The Race of the Snowbirds
by sentinel28
Summary: Just a quick note from the author, who's been MIA...
1. The Wolf Plans

**_THE RACE OF THE SNOWBIRDS_**

**_Chapter 11 of the Snowbird Saga_**

_AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, here we are, Chapter 11. (Bankruptcy!) I think I've got about three more of these (counting this one) before I make an end to the Snowbird Saga. Since _Inu-Yasha_ just ended, I'm feeling the need to write fanfics of that again…_

_ I kind of had to play with dates again. I'm really not sure how long it takes a JumpShip to recharge, so I don't know if the Snowbirds could move around as much as they do in this story arc. I think my readers will forgive me on this one, though—at least, I hope so. Also, I'm going on the dates in the _Clan Wolf Sourcebook_ and moving some units around that might not be canon. There's no evidence, of course, that the 11th Wolf Guards or the 352nd Assault Cluster were moved anywhere but straight forward, but I would assume that even Clan Wolf grants its warriors some rest periods. And having read Chapters 26 and 29 of _Blood Legacy_ several times, I find it interesting that Stackpole makes no mention of the 13th Wolf Guards (including Phelan Wolf) fighting on Tamar, but the _Clan Wolf Sourcebook_ is pretty specific about it. (I also make a bit of a goat of Conal Ward in this chapter, but hey, the jerk deserves it.)_

_ Anyhow, this story arc is just chock full of 'Mech action, so let's get the talky portion out of the way, shall we?_

_REVIEWER'S CORNER:_

_SulliMike: Yep. Things are starting to heat up quite a bit in the ol' Inner Sphere._

_4477 Thire: I thought about using "Gory Gory" (or whatever it's called), but decided that gallows humor was not what was called for there._

_RogueBaron: I made a mark on the Wobbies? When did I do that? I don't remember doing that. (I remember drawing risque pictures in response to someone _else_ drawing them, heh heh.) Anyway, yeah, I agree. There was a U-boat skipper who said he could turn an atheist into a raging evangelist just by putting him under depth charge attack. As for Senefa…well, fighting Clan Wolf won't be too hard for an ex-Jade Falcon._

_Mosin: I'm glad you liked the speech. I was worried it would come out sounding too rah-rah._

_Wolfman: Thanks, and welcome to the show._

_MUSIC CORNER: Theme from _Lifeforce_ by Henry Mancini is a good "opening theme," as well as "Attack" from _Patton.

* * *

_Clan Wolf WarShip _Dire Wolf

_Assault Orbit, Tamar, Clan Wolf Occupied Zone_

_15 November 3051_

Phelan Wolf leaned back in his chair, rubbed his eyes, and blinked a few times, trying to stay awake. In the sole bed of their shared compartment on the _Dire Wolf,_ Ranna lay unmoving, in an exhausted sleep. They had come off operations only twelve hours before, when the 13th Wolf Guards had finally been pulled off the line, after having taken Tamar City. Other units of Alpha Galaxy were still fighting in the city, mostly against isolated pockets of resistance and the remnants of the Tamar War College cadet battalion, who continued to fight. Duke Selvin Kelswa, the ruler of Tamar, was dead in the wreckage of his _Atlas_, though it had taken a rare occurrence of gang tactics to bring the old duke down. Continued resistance was long since hopeless, and had been since the 26th Lyran Guards had evacuated Tamar a week before—but fighting continued. Phelan didn't envy the other Wolf warriors still onplanet. In the final hours before the 13th Wolf Guards had been pulled out for a rest, Phelan's Star had been attacked by 12 and 13-year old cadets in training 'Mechs, some with explosives strapped to them to act as suicide bombers. The tactics had horrified the Clan warriors; Phelan had actually seen the tough, normally unflappable Elemental Star Captain Evantha Fetladral in tears after the battle. He had been ready to sleep for a week, but he was back on the _Dire Wolf_ no more than an hour before ilKhan Ulric Kerensky had come to him, asking for Phelan to prepare a report—not on Tamar, but on the raiding occurring deep behind the main line of resistance, in Clan Wolf occupied space. That had been five hours ago.

Phelan got up, poured himself his fourth mug of coffee, and went back to work at the tiny desk in the compartment. He smiled at the reports on the holodisplay in front of him. He flexed his hands, fought down a yawn, and prepared to go back to work, only to be interrupted by a soft knock on the compartment's door. Sighing, he got up to answer it, prepared to tear into someone. His protest died on his lips and he came to attention: at the door was no less than the ilKhan himself. Phelan was about six feet tall, but Ulric Kerensky, though only a few inches taller, looked more so because he was thin, though like most Clan warriors, he was also muscular. His white hair was trimmed short, as was his goatee. Ulric could be very intimidating when he wanted, but he was smiling now. "Good evening, Phelan. May I come in?"

"Of course, sir." Phelan said it quietly and motioned at Ranna. Ulric nodded, and ducked his head under the coaming as he came in. Ulric helped himself to a cup of coffee and sat down next to Phelan in a fragile-looking director's chair. He winced at the powerful brew. "Did you prepare this?"

"No, sir; it was Ranna."

"She takes after her grandmother in more than one way. Natasha's coffee could kill a horse." He glanced over at her, still dead to the world. "I am sorry to disturb you, but I would like to see that report." Phelan wondered why it was that important to Ulric: as ilKhan of the Clans, Ulric had a war to run that involved all six invading Clans, and a relatively small raid seemed beneath him. Phelan didn't expect an explanation, but he got one as Ulric leaned back. "I just got out of a three-hour screaming match with Natasha Kerensky, Garth Radick, and Conal Ward. The latter two are quite upset."

Phelan nodded. Natasha and Garth were the Khans of Clan Wolf, the titular rulers of the Clan, while Conal Ward was commander of Delta Galaxy and quite influential in Clan politics. Seeing that Ulric wanted his opinion, he said, "That is not to be surprised at, sir. After all, the Snowbirds did embarrass Conal."

"Mm. Not that embarrassing Conal Ward is particularly difficult, quiaff?" Phelan tactfully didn't answer that. Ulric and Conal had been rivals for nearly thirty years; while Ulric merely disliked Conal, the latter loathed Ulric. Recently, Conal had attempted to get a Khanship of his own by promoting Ulric as ilKhan, where he would be relatively powerless to influence Clan Wolf politics. Ulric had deftly outmanuevered Conal by elevating Natasha Kerensky to the position, despite the fact that she had been away from the Clans for nearly fifty years, terrorizing the Inner Sphere as the legendary Black Widow. Whereas Ulric and Natasha were members of the Warden faction, which opposed the invasion of the Inner Sphere, both Garth Radick and Conal were members of the majority Crusader faction, which not only had succeeded in getting the Clans to invade, but also intended to destroy the Successor Houses and replace them with a new Star League—one along Clan lines. "Is your report finished?" Ulric asked.

"Not quite, sir, but it is mostly finished."

"Let me hear what you have."

"Yes sir." Phelan took a drink of coffee and began. "On 31 October, a battalion-sized Inner Sphere unit struck Mozrije, one of our supply bases. It was only defended by second-line units—infantry, a few tanks, and a _dezgra_ Trinary of 'Mechs." A _dezgra_ unit was made up of warriors who had been disgraced, who were too old, or freeborn warriors who had failed to get into one of the Wolves' garrison Clusters. "Needless to say, this unit did not last long. It was destroyed, then the supply base was completely destroyed." Phelan paused. "The Inner Sphere unit was identified as the Snowbirds Special Missions Combined Arms Team of the Sentinels Regimental Combined Arms Team, mercenaries under contract to the Federated Commonwealth."

"I am not familiar with the Snowbirds," Ulric told him. "Are they a new unit?"

"Yes and no, ilKhan. They were formed, we believe, about this time last year and consisted of two 'Mech companies. It seems they have been expanded to a full combined arms battalion with three 'Mech companies, a company of tanks, and possibly a squadron of Aerofighters, along with platoon-sized infantry support." Phelan couldn't resist a wry smile. "You know of their commander, sir—Sheila Arla-Vlata."

Recognition dawned in Ulric's eyes. "Ah, of course. Cavell Malthus' bane. The woman who beat Senefa Malthus in a Trial of Possession on Planting last December, then somehow convinced Senefa to defect in May of this year."

"The same, sir."

"You knew her, quiaff?"

Phelan's smile faded just a little. "Aff, ilKhan; we were at the Nagelring together." Phelan didn't mention that Sheila had been one of the ones that had voted against him in the review board that had gotten him expelled from the military academy. A year ago, Phelan might have reacted much more strongly, but Phelan Wolf had learned much that Phelan Kell hadn't had the maturity to. Still, Phelan couldn't help but be somehow proud of what Sheila had accomplished in her own short career. The loss of the Trial of Possession had merely been a minor affair, but Senefa Malthus' defection to the Inner Sphere had rocked the Clans and badly embarrassed the Jade Falcons. The Crusaders had attempted to spin it, saying that Senefa simply had bad genes and had been seduced by the decadent Inner Sphere. The Wardens had laughed at them, Ulric leading the charge: Senefa had not been seduced, but instead infuriated at the Jade Falcons' heavyhanded tactics. She was a traitor, yes, but if anything it showed that the Crusaders' supposed absolute moral authority over the Inner Sphere was hollow. Cavell Malthus had been stripped of his Khanship, though he retained command of the Falcons' premier Galaxy, and replaced by Vandervahn Chistu, an ardent Crusader with none of Cavell's charm or savvy. Anything that made the Jade Falcons look like fools was meat and drink to the Wolves. "Senefa gives Sheila a great deal of intelligence on the Clans, but I am surprised that the Snowbirds would strike at us, not the Jade Falcons." He motioned with the coffee cup at Phelan. "Continue."

"Aff. After the Snowbirds were done on Mozrije, they appeared on Kirchbach six days ago. Here they ran into heavier opposition—our Choyer Garrison Cluster, recuperating from operations on Cusset. The Snowbirds observed _batchall_ and challenged Star Colonel Jewel to a Trial of Possession. She accepted and lost five of her warriors before the battle became a melee. Apparently, MechWarrior Rika of the 7th BattleMech Star, who was not involved in the combat, made a comment about Senefa being a quote 'freebirth traitor.' One of the Snowbirds' assault 'Mechs, an _Awesome_, apparently heard the transmission and opened fire on Rika. The Snowbirds broke off the fight and retreated, but Jewel found out that the Trial had merely been a distraction, because the Snowbirds' tanks had already attacked Swedenborg Heavy Industries, which had been left undefended. They had little trouble convincing the workers there to wreck the facility, and because the Choyers were chasing the Snowbirds, they had plenty of time to do so. The Snowbirds retreated offplanet soon thereafter."

"Casualties among the Choyer?" Ulric asked.

"Light. Three MechWarriors dead, eight wounded, seven 'Mechs destroyed. The Elementals suffered 25 casualties. We assume the Snowbirds also took some casualties, but they were light. However, the Swedenborg Industries will be out for eight months, best estimate." Phelan handed Ulric a sheet of paper. "Star Colonel Jewel has offered her resignation."

"I know. Conal wanted her reassigned to a _dezgra_ unit. Natasha overrode him and has refused to accept Jewel's resignation. I agree—Jewel is a good woman and a fine commander. She merely was outmanuevered this time."

"Why is Conal so upset?" Phelan wanted to know. Conal Ward had a bad temper, but he usually kept it under control.

It was Ulric's turn to smile. "There is something that is not in the reports, at least not ones you had access to. It seems that the Snowbirds believe in adding insult to injury." Phelan nodded once; not only had the Mozrije base been burned, it had also been extensively vandalized. Wolf sigils had been spraypainted over, water pipes had been broken to flood out barracks, and even the toilets boobytrapped with non-lethal, but highly effective tear gas grenades. "It seems that Conal's personal luggage was on Kirchbach. The Snowbirds apparently identified him as a high-ranking member of our Clan, and stole his dress uniform. The rest of his luggage was thrown into a sewage ditch. Is that a smile I see on your face, Star Commander Phelan?"

"Neg, ilKhan," Phelan lied. Conal despised Phelan, and the feeling was more than mutual.

"You are a remarkably poor poker player, quiaff? You must ask Natasha for additional training. In any case, what is our supply shortfall from these two raids?"

"17 percent. However, the loss of Swedenborg could cut into our ammunition supplies in the short term. We can make up the shortfall easily by bringing up supplies from the homeworlds, but it could cause us problems—not insurmountable ones, of course, but some."

"Where are the Snowbirds now?"

Phelan brought up a map of the coreward sector of the Inner Sphere, and pointed to a world that glowed green. "Intel believes here, on Maxie's Planet. The ComStar HPG station went off the air two days ago, we believe with the collusion of the local Precentor." He looked at Ulric. "If I may venture an opinion, sir, I do not think we can entirely trust ComStar. Primus Myndo Waterly and Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht may be working with us, but individual Precentors on occupied worlds do not seem to completely share their willingness to work with the Clans."

"Interesting. I will have to bring that up when I see the Precentor Martial later today. Maxie's Planet has an active resistance, quiaff?"

"Aff. More than likely the Snowbirds are there to assist or evacuate the remaining members." Phelan turned back to his computer. "Sir, I am afraid that is all I have for now. I have not yet written the conclusion to my report."

"Let me add something to it." Ulric finished the coffee. "Losing his dress uniform is just the catalyst for getting Conal enraged, but it is more than that. Garth Radick is very concerned—and I am inclined to agree with him—that the Snowbirds may be attempting to raid even deeper. They have struck three planets in less than a month. Obviously, and correctly, Commander Arla-Vlata is avoiding pitched battles, which means she is preserving her force, and her supplies."

"Both the Mozrije and Kirchbach garrisons reported that the Snowbirds stole supplies as well," Phelan added.

"Which makes sense. We have adapted Inner Sphere supplies to our stores; the reverse can be true as well. The question is, why? Most raids are confined to one or two planets. Arla-Vlata has struck three, and I believe that she is far from finished. Do you concur?"

"Aff, ilKhan."

"Which has worried Khan Radick," Ulric repeated. At the confused look on Phelan's face, he reached out and traced a finger 'upwards,' towards the galactic core—and the Clan homeworlds. "That's impossible!" Phelan exclaimed, shocked enough to forget the Clan tradition of avoiding contractions and reverting back to his Spherian speech pattern. "I don't know the route back to the planets; no Clan warrior below Khan rank does…right? Er, quiaff?"

"Keep your voice down," Ulric ordered, inclining his head towards Ranna. "We of the Kerensky blood are notoriously bad-tempered when we are awakened. In answer to your badly-worded question, Phelan, neg. Some Star Colonels know the route. Senefa Malthus was not one of them…that we know of. The Jade Falcons say that she did not, but the possibility exists, however remote, that they are lying or that Senefa found out without their knowledge."

"One battalion cannot do much damage," Phelan insisted.

"They do not need to. They merely need to find the homeworlds. I do not worry about a counter-invasion, Phelan, but the mere threat of Inner Sphere units among the homeworlds would inflame the Crusaders to the point of no return." Phelan went pale at that. The more fanatical of the Crusaders had proposed that the Clans threaten to strike recalcitrant planets with orbital bombardment or even nuclear weapons to insure an Inner Sphere surrender. So far, cooler heads had prevailed—after all, few amongst the Clans wanted to rule an Inner Sphere of radioactive cinders—but it would also undercut the Wardens' position that the Inner Sphere was no threat to the Clans. Sheila Arla-Vlata was playing with armageddon and didn't even know it.

Ulric sighed. "In any case, Phelan, even if the Snowbirds are not aimed for the homeworlds, there is plenty of damage they can do here. You said that the Swedenborg workers actively cooperated, quiaff? And that the Precentor on Maxie's Planet voluntarily shut off his HPG transmitter? Resistance already is transmitted by word of mouth—DropShip captains and the like. If Precentors who resent the Primus' cooperation with us decide to start surreptitiously transmitting, or worse, openly rebel, then we could face a massive rising in our rear areas. So far, ComStar has managed to prevent that, and Clan Wolf of course has tried to treat our conquered planets decently. The other Clans have not shared our views. Moreover, raids have increased over the past month. Another mercenary command, Snord's Irregulars, struck Jade Falcon units in the Dark Nebula region. House Kurita Ryuken units are staging from Wolcott against the Smoke Jaguar and Ghost Bear rear areas."

Phelan glanced at the map, seeing where Ulric was going with this. The longer raiding parties stayed loose in the Clan rear, the more word would spread among the occupied planets. Resistance groups, which had slowly been surrendering or convinced to give up a hopeless fight, would take heart and fight on. More resistance groups might follow. If a few ComStar Precentors or even ComGuard garrisons decided to join them, things could rapidly get out of hand. By themselves, the Snowbirds were a nuisance. Multiplied, or allowed to run rampant—and, Phelan knew, there wasn't much that could stop a veteran unit that deep behind the lines—the Clans could face a fire in the rear equal to the one to their front. "We must run them down," Phelan said sadly.

"Aff." Ulric was no less unhappy. It was the biggest paradox of the Wardens in the Clans. Having failed to convince the Clans to leave the Inner Sphere alone, their best bet to foil the Crusaders was for that faction to spectacuarly lose. The Wardens, however, simply couldn't sabotage the invasion openly. Ulric hoped that Clan Wolf could make it to Terra first: once they were proclaimed the ilClan, which the other Clans would have to obey, then he could order the Clans to leave the Inner Sphere forever. Unfortunately, that meant beating the Crusaders at their own conquering game. While the Snowbirds were doing a fine job of making the overconfident Crusaders look like fools, they were also threatening to become the snowflake that would send an avalanche hurtling in a direction Ulric couldn't control. "We must do it quickly, as well."

"One Cluster?" Phelan ventured. "The Nega and Gorbeng Garrison Clusters are on Laurent."

"Natasha has already ordered the Nega to proceed to Rasalhague. We cannot afford a popular rising on the former capital of the Free Rasalhague Republic." Ulric shook his head. "No, a Garrison Cluster might not be able to stop the Snowbirds. They simply do not have the hitting power, or the speed. No, Khan Radick and Conal insist on a frontline Cluster, and for once, I agree." Ulric chuckled. "Of course, in doing so, we are playing right into the Federated Commonwealth's plan. I am quite sure that Hanse Davion would very much enjoy the spectacle of Clusters we need to take planets chasing our tails instead. But my hands are tied, as are Natasha's. We are sending two Clusters, the better to end this quickly."

"Which ones?"

"That, Phelan, depends largely on you." Ulric put a hand on the young man's shoulder. "You know Sheila Arla-Vlata. Where do you think she will strike next?"

"I do not know her _that_ well…"

"Nevertheless, you have proven yourself remarkably able at predicting an enemy's moves—both foreign and domestic."

Phelan returned his attention back to the map. He thought about it for several minutes and called up data on a few planets, while Ulric waited patiently. Finally, Phelan's finger stabbed at a planet that glowed Wolf brown. "Here, ilKhan. New Caledonia."

Ulric stared over his shoulder. "Why there?"

"Well…Mozrije, Kirchbach, and Maxie's Planet are all within one jump of each other. For the Snowbirds to hit so many planets in so short of a time means that their JumpShips are not taking a great deal of time to recharge—just enough to make short duration jumps. New Caledonia is close to Maxie's Planet. Moreover, there are several steel plants there and a great deal of mining interests, ones which produce 'Mech armor plates that we need. It also has a small but active resistance. The Snowbirds could expect the same reception they got on Kirchbach."

"Are there other planets that fit the same parameters?"

Phelan quickly scanned more data. "Just Verthandi." He shrugged. "Of course, there is the possibility that they will either make a long jump somewhere else, or raid further into Jade Falcon space."

"That will be the Jade Falcons' problem, quiaff?" Ulric shook his head. "Neg, Phelan. Clan Wolf is the primary target, almost certainly because we have advanced the farthest the quickest. I think Maxie's Planet is a feint. What units do we have in the area?"

"The Choyer Garrison Cluster is still on Kirchbach. They are closest."

"I would rather not send the Choyer…they are already understrength, and I am not sure that Khan Radick will trust Star Colonel Jewel."

"Well, in that case, the closest is actually the 11th Wolf Guards. They are on New Oslo, on their way to the front—they're supposed to take Vorarlberg in two weeks. Star Colonel John Ward has just finished a R&R period."

Ulric closed his eyes in thought. "Vorarlberg is poorly defended, as I recall. It can keep. John Ward is a good commander and a good man." Phelan knew that John Ward was also a Warden and one of Ulric's allies. "What else?"

Phelan scrolled down the Wolf order of battle, and was surprised. "The 352nd Assault Cluster is heading back to Mozrije. Star Colonel Erik Kerensky was ordered to refit and take in replacements. They got a little torn up on Sevren." Phelan tapped at the keys. "Orders are a week old—issued by Khan Radick. Star Colonel Kerensky probably does not know Mozrije has been sacked."

"Well, well…Erik." Ulric stroked his goatee, wryly smiling. Erik and Ulric were sibkin, growing up together in the same company. They did not like each other: Erik was a fanatic Crusader. Phelan could clearly see Ulric wondering if Sheila Arla-Vlata might rid him of a thorn in his side before she was run to ground. "What is the 352nd's strength?"

"60 percent of normal. Their fighters are still on Sevren."

"Excellent." He stood. "We will send two frontline Clusters, then—divert John Ward's 11th Guards from New Oslo to New Caledonia, and Erik Kerensky's 352nd to Verthandi. Either one will destroy the Snowbirds." Ulric patted Phelan's shoulder again. "Excellent work, Phelan. You are making this a habit. Now get some sleep—that is an order, quiaff?"

"Aff, ovkhan."

Ulric paused on the threshold of the door. "Phelan…I know you and Sheila are not friends, but…does it bother you helping to plan her demise?"

Phelan knew why the question was asked. Ulric was always testing him. Phelan's loyalties were with Clan Wolf, but neither did he want to see his homeland destroyed by the Crusaders. It was a catch-22. On one hand, he wanted Sheila to succeed, but the consequences for Clan Wolf were not good if she did. "Aff," he finally answered.

"I as well. I hate to see a good unit and a good commander destroyed, especially when they could be valuable allies in the future. Such is the nature of this war." He nodded and was gone.

Phelan stretched and grinned at Ranna, who was now softly snoring. Ranna was capable of sleeping through an atomic bomb. Before he shut off his computer, however, Phelan brought up a picture of Sheila Arla-Vlata from the newsnets. She looked different from the young, gawky girl he remembered from the Nagelring. He felt a sudden pang of sorrow for his former classmate. "You poor woman," he said quietly. "You don't know what you've started."


	2. The Snowbird Riposte

_AUTHOR'S NOTES: Chapter 2. This one has a bit of everything: mission planning, history, humor, angst, tech talk, a LAM, new characters, and even some sex. The one thing it doesn't have is a 'Mech fight; the big 'Mech battle happens in the next chapter. I actually don't know if the _Battlemaster_ has a second seat, but in all the pictures I've seen of it, it does. So there._

_ Because this story arc is pretty tense, and I've felt the need to write some comedy lately, I'm writing a story concurrently with this one over in the _Inu-Yasha_ section. The manga just ended a little over a week ago, and inspiration has struck. So if you're interested in that sort of thing, it's called "Down the Well." (Even if you don't like _Inu-Yasha, _there's going to be a little bit of _Ah My Goddess!_ and _Love Hina_ in there as well.)_

_REVIEWER'S CORNER:_

_Flashpoint: Thanks for the science. That's not my strong suit by any means, so it's appreciated. The confrontation between Phelan and Sheila will be strictly from a distance, and yes, Sheila doesn't have much time for Phelan Kell/Wolf. From her POV, he was a loser at the Nagelring and now he's a traitor. Someday she may change her opinion, but no time soon._

_Mosin: Thanks. Clan politics is always fun to write about._

_Rouge: No, I didn't know that, but that's kewl. (I really haven't had time to read other fanfics, as I've been too busy writing mine and working—but I do need to get back to reading your stuff and Kat Wylder's.) And please do post your "response picture." I'm a little scared now…_

_Jason: Thank you. The nice thing about writing Phelan and Ulric is that I have plenty of stuff to base their personalities on. The Jade Falcons have other things on their minds at the moment—though rest assured, Cavell Malthus is still out there and even _more_ pissed off at Calla and Sheila—but the Wolves are in a real quandary, as Phelan mentioned. On one hand, they can't just let the Snowbirds raid unopposed, but on the other, Ulric would be all too happy to see them show up the Crusaders. If the Snowbirds were raiding the Jade Falcons, then Ulric and Phelan would be cheering them on, but they're hitting the Wolves instead…Sheila, essentially, doesn't know what she's doing on a political level._

_4477: "Blood Upon the Risers" was always a gallows humor song anyway. I actually do have the lyrics; they're in _GURPS Special Ops,_ if you're interested._

_SulliMike:_ _ In a word: yep._

_FraserMage: I kind of figured you would. As a reward, you get a mention in this story! (Well, not really…I was going to give you a mention anyway, but it sounds good.) As for a time skip, probably not anytime soon. I intend to end the Snowbird stories with an epilogue that says what happens to everyone, but there will be room if I want to write more…though I really should be concentrating on writing stuff I can actually publish and make money off of! _

_MUSIC CORNER: "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" by Tomoyasu Hotei from the _Kill Bill_ soundtrack, "The Kiss" from _The Last of the Mohicans,_ and "The Final Countdown" by Europe._

* * *

_Mount Brecon_

_New Caledonia, Clan Wolf Occupied Zone_

_25 November 3051_

Max Canis-Vlata stopped to catch his breath for a moment. It was a hard slope on the foothills of Mount Brecon, which rose majestically into the gray clouds far above his head, and they were already a good thousand meters above the valley floor. Once he got his air back, he finished the climb and came onto a small shelf. The view around them was impressive, but he had eyes only for the woman in front of him.

Sheila Arla-Vlata stood with her arms folded across her breasts, one leg in front of the other. Her sinous body was hidden under thick winter clothing; her black hair disappeared into the fur-lined collar that ruffled with the slight breeze. Max regarded her for a moment. She looked out over the Snowbirds' encampment below, looking every inch the battalion commander. Her expression was intense, and her green eyes flicked back and forth. Among her other talents, Max knew that Sheila had acquired an eye for ground, something all good military commanders had. It meant being able to look at terrain and realize how to fight in it: how a finger ridge from a mountain provided an easy way to the top; how a fold in a prairie was a good spot to hide or a good spot for an ambush; how a fast-moving, narrow river provided more of a barrier to fording 'Mechs than a slow-moving wide one; how a reverse slope of a hill could provide cover from enemy artillery. Sheila was checking the ground, looking for weak spots in her defense. Then those eyes went over to him, and they lost some of their hardness.

"What are you looking at?" she asked with a small smile.

"You." Max came up to her and hugged her to him, putting his chin atop her head. "You're beautiful."

"I don't feel beautiful…I need a shower and eight hours of sleep."

"You can get both."

Sheila snorted. "Oh yeah, a pedal-powered camp shower with water heated by a fire, and a nap on the ground or in my ejection seat."

"You found a home in the army. My _Battlemaster_ can fit two, if you fold down the jumpseat." He kissed her hair. "And if they're very friendly."

She turned, drew him down to her, and gave him a very deep kiss. "That sounds like fun, but it's going to have to wait." She pointed out, into the valley. "I think the Wolves might be rude enough to interrupt."

"Oh…them." In the far distance was a dust cloud. It was barely a smudge against the distant mountains across the deep glacial valley, but beneath that smudge was a Clan Wolf Cluster, more than enough power to plow the Snowbirds under. They were still at least eight hours off, but the air was heavy with menace.

Max thought that, all things considered, Operation Rubicon had been a great success to this point. The raids on Mozrije, Kirchbach, and Maxie's Planet had gone exceptionally well. In all three cases, they had caught the Clans by surprise, and only on Kirchbach had they faced an opponent that outgunned and outnumbered them. The garrison on Mozrije had been ridiculously small for the amount of supplies they had guarded, and while Maxie's Planet had been better defended, it was still with second-line 'Mechs in numbers the Snowbirds had easily handled. To everyone's amazement, the Snowbirds had not suffered a single death, and even the wounds had been minor. Originally, Sheila had anticipated as much as ten percent losses by the time they attacked the Jade Falcon garrison on Maxie's Planet, which she hoped to make good with the survivors of the planetary militia, led by a retired major, Hans Remcke. As it turned out, they hadn't needed replacements except for the three 'Mechs the Snowbirds had lost on Kirchbach; Remcke's exhausted remnant had been put on the now empty supply DropShip _Aspen_ and sent back on a small JumpShip the AFFC had sent to meet the Snowbirds, while his 'Mechs, now repaired and even repainted, were serving with the Snowbirds. On all three planets, the Snowbirds had been welcomed as liberators, and if the fervor died a little when Sheila informed them that they weren't at the head of a liberating regiment, the people still helped everywhere they could. The armament workers on Kirchbach had been all too happy to destroy their own equipment, knowing they could safely blame it on the Snowbirds, even though it meant that they would be put out of work. There had been no reason to think that New Caledonia would be any different.

Yet someone in the Clan Wolf high command had somehow deduced the Snowbirds' next target. The drop had gone well enough, and the Snowbirds had advanced unopposed on the main city of Redfev. On the outskirts, however, there had been no cheering crowds, no sudden outbreak of Federated Commonwealth or Free Rasalhague flags. Sheila had suspected something and halted the battalion. Her fears were confirmed when an elderly gentleman wearing the uniform of the old Tyr Regiment came to her 'Mech and told her that the Wolves were hidden in the city. Sheila had immediately pulled the Snowbirds back, which confused the Wolf commander enough that he only sent out probes. Neither side had lost anything in the skirmishes that followed, but the Snowbirds now knew their enemy: the 11th Wolf Guards. It was their worst fears realized: the Snowbirds had nowhere near the strength or firepower to face a frontline Clan Cluster.

So the Snowbirds had retreated, though Sheila was not quite willing to give up: if she could give the Wolf Guards the slip, she might could pull off an end run, strike New Caledonia's supply bases, and get offworld before the bigger unit could react. Her opposite number, Star Colonel John Ward, was no novice. He kept hold of the Snowbirds. He was careful not to allow his faster machines—medium scouts like the _Fenris_ and something the Snowbirds had dubbed the _Pouncer_—outrun his larger _Mad Cats_ and _Men O'War_ and get suckered into ambushes, though the Snowbirds had set a few. He had also used his aerospace fighters to continuously keep an eye on the mercenaries, orbiting out of reach. The Wolves had tried an airstrike and paid the price: the Snowbirds had ten of their own Aerofighters and could put up a murderous curtain of antiaircraft fire. The Clans had also learned that genetic engineering was no substitute for combat experience. It was now a game of cat and mouse that had lasted six exhausting days. Sheila kept trying to break contact long enough to call down the DropShips and retreat off New Caledonia, while Ward kept trying to find a way to isolate a part of the Snowbirds or bring them to battle. Neither was able to get the better of the other, even as both units entered a valley with high mountains on either side, barren and dry in the middle, that the locals called the Scampton Rift. The 11th Wolf Guards, in unfamiliar terrain, had slowed as they came to the southern end of the valley, a narrow pass known as Kumla Gap, expecting an ambush. But Sheila had not stopped, and she had gained a precious seven-hour lead on Ward—only to get a message from the _Back of Beyond's_ captain that he had been forced to hide the DropShips on the opposite side of New Caledonia, as several Wolf ships had been detected coming insystem. While Captain McKay was sure he could still extract the Snowbirds within 24 hours, Sheila had a sinking feeling that the arrival of more Wolf DropShips could only mean that there was another unit coming to New Caledonia. Ward's leisurely pace since dawn only made it more likely that the game was no longer cat and mouse, but hounds chasing a hare to the hunters.

Sheila opened her mouth to say something more, but it was drowned out by the sound of ramjets. They both ducked instinctively as an ungainly looking craft came out of the narrow valley to their right, smoking and on fire. Despite the obvious damage, the pilot brought the aircraft to a hover, and inexplicably the rear of the aircraft seemed to separate and swing down into legs, even as arms popped out of the sides. It settled to the ground hard, but techs wielding fire extinguishers were already spraying foam and dousing the fire. The strange hybrid was a _Phoenix Hawk LAM_, one of the rare Land-Air 'Mechs that had been an attempt to combine the mobility of an aerospace fighter with the firepower of a 'Mech. It could do neither job well but existed because it could do either at all. LAMs were literally worth their weight in gold, and it had been pure luck that Remcke's militia somehow possessed one—or that Ariel Munroe was a qualified pilot as well as MechWarrior. Since she had lost her own _Phoenix Hawk_ on Kirchbach, she had quickly been elected to pilot it.

"Looks like Ariel found something," Max sighed, "and it wasn't friendly."

* * *

By the time Max and Sheila got back to the camp, the precious data that Munroe had risked her life to get was downloaded from her battle computer, transferred to a laptop, and printed out in living color. Sheila had taken one glance at them and called an immediate meeting of the Snowbirds' principal commanders. Eating a quick and cold dinner, Sheila regarded each as they filed in.

Not surprisingly, Senefa Malthus was first. Though she only held the rank of lance commander while the others were majors, Senefa had become Sheila's right hand as much as Max. The former Clan warrior had been a wellspring of knowledge and wisdom, supernaturally calm in battle and exceedingly deadly. Senefa was as tall as Sheila and even bore enough of a resemblance to her former enemy that they had been mistaken as sisters, but Senefa moved with a sinous grace that Sheila could never hope to emulate. For Senefa, the one thing that had marred Rubicon so far was not finding a full Cluster of Wolves waiting on New Caledonia, but Tooriu Kku breaking the rules in a Trial of Possession by opening fire when he was not involved. She smiled at Sheila and Max and sat down in a camp stool. She wore her duty uniform; the cold didn't seem to touch her.

Not far behind Senefa was David Moore, the sole tanker. A man of noble birth among mongrel mercenaries, Moore had been a pleasant surprise. Despite commanding a conglomeration of fast hovertanks, slow main battle tanks, and self-propelled artillery, he had mastered the difficult job and wielded each part of his company brillantly. The Choyer Garrison Elemental unit on Kirchbach had learned the hard way that Snowbird tanks were not easy targets. He apologized quietly to Sheila about his greasy coveralls and took a seat next to Senefa.

Elfa Brownoak and Marion Rhialla, Sheila's remaining majors, arrived together, as they so often did. Marion was the oldest MechWarrior in the battalion, and Elfa not far behind. Marion's fatigues were spotless; how the woman managed it was a mystery to the Snowbirds in general. She took up a position, standing, at the entrance of the tent. Marion, for her part, eased into an inflatable chair, her fatigues as dirty as everyone else's and the bottom three buttons left open. Sheila had been infuriated when she had learned Elfa was pregnant, especially since the older woman had not informed Sheila of that fact until they had reached Mozrije—knowing full well that she would've been left behind on Sudeten. Their relationship had been cooly professional after that; Elfa was Sheila's second-in-command and they still worked together, but there was none of the warmth that had been between them before. Now five months along, Elfa had long since started to show. She wasn't due until March and would be able to pilot a 'Mech safely until January, but Sheila was still angry.

The last three to arrive came in at the same time, leading to a semi-comical moment where they all attempted to squeeze through the tent's entrance. Because she was smallest, Virginia "Nessie" Lossiemouth got through first. She was only five foot four, just at the minimum height for an aerospace fighter pilot to see over the instrument panel. Lossiemouth led the small Snowbirds fighter contingent, and since none of the other planets had air cover to speak of, she was probably the only one enjoying herself. Though making Major just before leaving Sudeten, she already had eight kills and had added five more since the Snowbirds had arrived on New Caledonia. She had been a protégé of the late Elizabeth Dowlings, the Sentinels' regimental air commander, and hailed from Northwind, just like her mentor. She slapped the man behind her on the chest, laughed, and sat on the ground, her black flight suit in direct contrast to the gray fatigues worn by the others.

Behind Lossiemouth and smiling at her, Robert Copeland took a seat. Like Senefa, he was only a lance commander, but he was the liasion officer to the Snowbirds; Copeland was not a mercenary, but a serving officer with the regular AFFC. Sheila had worried about Copeland before the operation began. He had made a bad first impression on Sheila and the Snowbirds, and made the mistake of trying to repair it by a glad-handing approach that only made the battalion feel patronized. Since leaving Sudeten, however, Copeland had found his groove, performed well in the field, and was slowly winning the trust of the Snowbirds.

Last and certainly not least was Nicia Caii. Nearly seven feet tall, Nicia towered over everyone in the room, and her one-piece tech coveralls were filthier than everyone's with grease, lubricants, dirt, and every other substance to be found around BattleMechs and tanks. Sheila knew Nicia had to be miserable: New Caledonia was half a G higher than Terran standard, and Nicia came from a low-gravity world. The extra weight being placed on her delicate bone structure was actually painful, but Nicia still did her duty and did it very well. The regimental Master Tech, she had no business being out with the Snowbirds on Rubicon, but had managed to convince Sheila's father, Calla, to let her go along. The logical reason was that the Snowbirds had upgraded their 'Mechs on Sudeten and even had four precious captured Clan OmniMechs, and Nicia was the best tech in the regiment. The real reason was that Nicia was tired of watching her 'Mechs—as far as she was concerned, MechWarriors merely borrowed them—go out and get shot up, then come stumbling back to be repaired, if they could walk at all. Nicia wanted to be in the field, and for her, Rubicon was her one shot at adventure. In a brutal, twenty-hour a day schedule that broke even the toughest of MechWarriors, Nicia thrived, though Sheila could see by the dark circles under her eyes that even the indomitable Master Tech desperately needed a break.

Sheila let the chatter go for a short time, then stood up and moved her chair to the center of the tent, where there was a small table. Silence instantly reigned. Without speaking, Sheila put the photos on the table, and everyone peered at them. "There's no easy way to say this," Sheila spoke, "but there it is, in living color. We're surrounded." The photos showed the better part of a Clan Cluster—this time, to the east of the Snowbirds.

Marion spat a foul curse. Elfa asked resignedly, "Who are they?"

"Captain McKay picked up a little radio chatter when they came insystem. You're looking at the 352nd Assault Cluster of Clan Wolf," Sheila answered.

"Jesus," Moore said. "What are they doing here? I mean, besides the obvious."

"All I can guess is that either Star Colonel Ward called for help, which I doubt, or that whoever the CO of the 352nd is, he heard about Ward fighting us here and came of his own volition, maybe to try and steal Ward's victory away."

"That makes sense," Senefa put in. "I know the commander of the 352nd. His name is Erik Kerensky. He grew up in the same sibko as the ilKhan of the Clans, Ulric Kerensky. They call Erik the 'Khan's Shadow.' Despite that, they do not like each other."

"How do you know all that?" Copeland asked, his voice full of suspicion. Finding a Clan Wolf Cluster waiting for them on New Caledonia had started all kind of rumors that someone had betrayed the Snowbirds.

"Because I defeated him once in a Trial of Grievance." Senefa paused. "He does not like me, either."

"Can't say as I'm fond of the son of a bitch myself," Elfa said, with a nasty look at Copeland. Many of the newer Snowbirds suspected Senefa was the one who was betraying them; the old heads knew of the hatred between the Jade Falcons and the Wolves and knew that, if Senefa was going to betray the Snowbirds, the last Clan she'd do it to was the Wolves. She reached over and unrolled a laminated map. "According to the photos, the aforementioned SOB is forming up his units right here." Her finger stabbed at an open plain beyond Mount Brecon. Called the Fraser Flats, it was a high mountain plain, just right for a DropShip landing zone; it had been Sheila's target. Now the Wolves were there first. "So let me sketch this out, just for the mental exercise. He forms up a cordon right here—" she traced where the mountains trailed down to the flats "—waits for us to come out here, and blows us away one lance at a time. If we don't take the bait, either he stays put and waits for Ward's 11th Guards to take us apart, or they hit us at the same time." Elfa leaned back. "To put it frankly, we're screwed."

"Not necessarily," Moore told her. "Senefa, do you know if Ward and Kerensky don't like each other much either?"

"John Ward is a Warden. Erik Kerensky is a Crusader. I would say that is a logical conclusion, Major."

"Then I say we can fight it out right here." Moore pointed at the ground. "We're in a pretty good position. The Clanners are going to have to come at us uphill. All we've gotta do is hold until the DropShips can get in here, right? That's what, about 20 hours from now? It'll take the 11th Guards at least seven or eight hours just to get in a position to attack. I think we can hold them."

"Except that they outnumber us two to one and outgun us about five to one," Copeland muttered.

"Were you planning on just surrendering, then?" Marion snarled.

Copeland couldn't meet her gaze, but he didn't give ground, either. "No, Miss Rhialla. I'm saying that we go over the mountains! I mean, look at the photos. I don't think this Kerensky bastard has a full Cluster here. If we can get him before he's good and deployed, we might have a shot at it!"

"Look at the fucking map!" Marion shouted. "Look at the goddamn mountains! That's glaciers up there, _Bob._"

"So?"

"And so! There's crevasses. There's snowdrifts so high that you can lose a _Battlemaster_ in one. There's high winds that'll knock over an assault 'Mech. And, in case you haven't been paying attention to the fucking sky, there's a storm moving in! Even assuming we don't lose half the battalion, it would take us about two or three days to cross them. That's plenty of time for Mr. Kerensky to simply wait on whoever crawls down!"

Copeland wasn't ready to give up. "I know the weather's closing in. We might could slip past in a blizzard."

"Nae bloody likely." Lossiemouth's brogue was as thick as Dowlings'. "The Wolves can track ye with infrared from tae air. 'Mechs'll stand oot like a hoor in church agin' snow. Besides, the weather isnae supposed tae be verra bad. Nae blizzards—just a loot o' fog and some rain. Enough tae make it miserable an' damn weel dangerous for us fighter pilots in this damned moontains, but nae enough tae ground anyone."

"Besides, there's no way the tanks could make it through," Moore added. "'Mechs can always jump a crevasse or detour around a snowfield. One of my 80-ton Ontos would just fall right through."

"I have a better idea." Sheila smiled at them, balancing her chin on her hands. She had let them talk, because she wasn't sure her idea was the best. "Erik Kerensky wants to take John Ward's kill away from him? I say, let's oblige the man, since he came so far. Max, if you please…"

He handed her a clear overlay, which she set aside for the moment. "All right. There _is_ a road through the mountains. It's narrow, but it's reinforced for 'Mech use; the Rasalhagians rebuilt it a few years ago." She pointed to the red trace that went south from their encampment, wandered erratically through the mountains, and came out onto the flats.

Elfa raised a hand. "Sheila, not to rain on your parade so soon, but that road goes through a tunnel. Yeah, the tunnel was widened and raised for 'Mechs, but I'll give you two guesses who's camping out at the east portal."

"Very true, Elfa, but let me finish." Sheila's fingers moved north from the road. "On the other side from Mount Brecon is an open-pit copper mine, one of the largest in the FRR. It's played out and abandoned, and only this little dirt road still connects it with the main road." The dirt road was a thin black stripe on the map, much straighter than the main road to the south, except where it climbed down from the mountains to where the Snowbirds were encamped, where it looked like a group of snakes. "Follow me so far?"

"Not really," Moore admitted. "The main road would be no problem, except that Major Brownoak is right, and that's where the Clans are waiting for us. I'm sure the 'Mechs could negotiate that dirt road, but not my tanks."

"The road has its own dangers," Senefa said. She pointed at the high ridges above the valley. "Sheila, that road would be barely wide enough for three 'Mechs, if that, and moreover, given the weather we have been having, I would say that it would be extremely prone to avalanches. And even if we reached the mine…" Senefa's hand splayed across the heavily glaciated expanse between the mine and the flats. "We would face the problems Marion mentioned."

"You're both right. But…" Sheila set the overlay across the map. It added new features to it, enough that there were exclamations around the table. "Remember that town we passed through the other day? Right after we went through the Gap? It reminded me of something that we talked about in the briefing on Sudeten: the Tyr underground was very active here. So I made a stop at the local hiking shop, made a few inquiries—I figured on finding some good ambush spots—and they told me about Mount Brecon, and they made this overlay for me. It seems that the Tyr made use of Mount Brecon as a hideout when Kurita ruled New Caledonia, and there's a lot of stuff that's not on the regular map."

Sheila ran her finger along a series of parallel lines. "The really cool stuff is right here—on the other side of the mine. Before they switched to open pit, the copper miners drove shafts into the mountains, following ore veins, during the early Star League period. They started out with hyrdraulic mining, but they switched to mining 'Mechs later on. These tunnels are wide enough for 'Mechs. In fact, to better facilitate getting ore out of the pit, they dug a big tunnel straight from the pit to Fraser Flat. The Wolves have their DropShips sited right on an old landing pad, where the ore was offloaded to ships heading offplanet for processing. The tunnel entrance heading out on Fraser Flat was covered over when the mine closed to keep people from getting in, and even landscaped to please the local environmentalists—but the tunnel is still there! The Tyr used it to hide from Kurita—they even hid stolen 'Mechs in the tunnel and the outlying shafts."

"If the tunnel was closed off on either end," Nicia asked, speaking for the first time, "then how did the Tyr get anything in at all?"

Sheila pointed to the mine. "There's a huge ferrocrete door here. By the time the Tyr used the mine, it had been half-buried in a rockslide and assumed to be unusable. Kurita never found out the Tyr repaired it and got into the mine that way. Every time Kurita flew aircraft over the mine area to look for Tyr resistance fighters, they simply closed the door. Even if Kurita found the western door, they scraped away enough of the earth inside the tunnel to making blowing open the eastern portal fairly easy."

"The perfect hiding place," Senefa observed. "Still, something does not seem right…are we sure of the story?"

"I've been talking to the locals all the way up the valley," Sheila smiled. "It's true."

"How come they never updated the maps?" Copeland asked.

"Paranoia," Moore answered. "The Rasalhagians were never sure that either the FedCom or Kurita might gobble them up again. They left the maps unmarked so an invader would never know." He shook his head. "That's some wild stuff—but why didn't the 2nd Drakons use Mount Brecon when the Wolves invaded a year ago?"

"They didn't have time," Elfa said. "The Drakons never got past the Kumla Gap before they packed it in and retreated offworld." She clapped her hands in excitement. "This is perfect, Sheila! We can split the Snowbirds. One half goes down the road, the other goes over the mountains. Kerensky is expecting us to come through the tunnel, so he orients himself facing that direction…"

"…and the other half goes through the tunnel, blows a hole where the mine is sealed up on the eastern end, and hits him squarely in the rear," Marion finished. She grinned savagely. "Hot damn. We hold him by the nose and kick him in the ass."

"I hate to keep sounding like the voice of doom," Copeland said, "but won't the Wolves be able to track us, like Major Lossiemouth said?"

"Yes—on the road," Sheila replied. "The dirt road goes through a lot of forest, but it's mostly level ground, once we get to the crest of the ridge. We make our way down into the pit and get into the tunnel. By the time the Wolves start sweeping the area north of the road, assuming they even think about doing so, we'll be underground."

"Okay. How do we get into the tunnel?"

"There's a camouflaged control station to the north of the door. It's been sealed off. We break in, open the door, close it from the other side, we're good."

Moore was looking closely at the map. "Well, solves that problem. I wish I felt better about taking the tanks on this road, though. We'll be dinner for any enterprising Clan aerospace pilot. Even with all the flak we can put up."

"The weather'll cover ye," Lossiemouth assured him. "Nae Clanner pilot's gonna come doon that valley if'n he can help it wi' all the ground fog they're predictin'. Mayhap some recon—but we want 'em to kin we're comin' doon the road, yeah?"

"Fair enough." Moore rubbed his bristled chin; he hadn't shaved in a few days. "It's still going to be awfully slow going."

"You got something better?" Marion demanded. "I don't like your 'let's fight here' idea."

"I'm not enamored of it myself." That brought a few chuckles around the table. "But given how slow some of my tanks are, it may be a case where the northern force holds the Wolves by the nose while _we_ in the tanks kick them in the ass."

"Fine with me," Sheila smiled. "I'd hate to have a couple of Ontos and a Von Luckner coming up on _my_ rear arc. Besides, you'll have plenty of 'Mech support."

"Actually, if you don't mind me saying so, I think you'd better not assign me more than a lance or two." Moore shrugged at the raised eyebrows. "We're going to be strung out as it is, and we're going to have to go slow. We have two companies on that road, and there's a good chance that the 11th Guards will be nipping at us from behind while we're trying to break through on the front. And they'd better not be assaults, either. I'm sure the Rasalhagians put avalanche barriers above the road—" Senefa nodded; she hadn't thought of that "—but you get 100-tonners on that road, and all that snow is gonna drop right on top of us. So we'd better just have some mediums along, just enough to break through if we run into trouble—like I said, just a lance or two."

"He's right." Max spoke up; he had been silent to this point. "Besides, we can't deploy more than a lance across the road anyway, especially in the tunnel. The rest would just be sitting there, milling around."

Moore suddenly grinned. "The good news is, I can use my artillery to cause avalanches behind us. That would slow the Wolves down a bit."

"One more thing," Sheila said, looking at Lossiemouth. "No air cover. You're operating from that stretch of road right now, Nessie, but there's no straight stretches between here and the flats. I want you to give us an hour worth of cover, then hightail it up the gravity well and rendezvous with the DropShips. Do you have enough reaction mass for that?" Unlike 'Mechs and fusion-powered tanks, aerofighters actually expended fuel for their speed.

"Aye. Just enough. I nae like it, though."

"If things go according to plan, you'll have just enough time to refuel and rearm before you cover the DropShips on the burn-in. You'll have a chance at more kills."

"Oh, that's just grand, then." Lossiemouth was happy again.

"Geez. I still hate the idea of dividing our force against a superior foe. I don't have any better ideas," Copeland hastened to add, "but it still goes against everything we learned at Sanglamore, Commander."

Sheila's smile remained. "Bob, have you ever heard of a battle called Chancellorsville?"

"I'm afraid not."

"American Civil War, 1863. Robert E. Lee, the Confederate commander, was surprised by a superior Union force striking behind him, while a strong force still faced his front. Luckily, one of his commanders, Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson, found out there was a road the Union didn't know about that led squarely to the Union right flank—which was in the air."

"Sound familiar?" Marion laughed.

"Yeah." Copeland rapped his knuckles on the map. "So what happened? I take it Lee won."

"He did. His Union opponent, Hooker, was sure that Lee wouldn't dare attack, since he would have to split his force in front of an opponent that outnumbered and outgunned him. Lee was on sound defensive ground; why attack at all? When Jackson attacked and routed his right flank, Hooker panicked. Even though his troops managed to rally, he withdrew back across the river and his offensive was over. It's considered Lee's greatest victory, and he did it against long odds." Sheila didn't feel like mentioning that Chancellorsville had been followed by Lee's greatest defeat, Gettysburg, and that Jackson had been killed in the battle.

"Well, like I said, I don't have any better ideas. I say we go for it," Copeland said.

"I concur," Elfa added.

"Anyone against?" No one was, so Sheila got to her feet. "Well, let's be at it, ladies and gentlemen. We've got a lot to do and not much time."

* * *

It took only an hour or so. Sheila was amazed at how easy it was. None of the Snowbirds were green now; they were all veterans to one extent or another. Even the least experienced MechWarrior among them, Kahvi Falx, could now strike camp and prepare her _Dragon_ for moving with the best of them. Sheila had worried about Kahvi, but so far the quiet Kuritan had shown a lot of promise.

Sheila was also amazed at how quickly she ran out of things to do. She issued the orders to Elfa, David Moore, and Marion, and they were then passed on to the various lance commanders and platoon leaders, on down to the lowliest MechWarrior and tank crew or infantry private. Though Sheila moved among the Snowbirds, offering encouragement here and exchanging a joke there, they did not need her looking over their shoulders. She openly discussed her plan with her troops if they asked, but most did not. They trusted their officers and they trusted her. Their quiet acceptance was the best compliment Sheila had ever received.

Now all the Snowbirds had to do was wait for nightfall and the weather to sweep over them. The Wolves certainly knew the Snowbirds were aware of the 352nd Assault Cluster's presence after having seen and shot at Ariel Munroe's LAM. Evidently, John Ward and the 11th Wolf Guards were satisfied with leaving the Snowbirds' destruction to the 352nd, since they had advanced to within six hours of the Snowbirds' position and halted for the night. While infrared and other detection systems would betray the Snowbirds moving out even in darkness and bad weather, Sheila was hoping that the Wolves would look south on the main road and see what they wanted to see. Either way, everyone on New Caledonia seemed to be simply waiting on someone else making the first move, and the Snowbirds had a chance to catch up on and store up rest for the big push ahead.

While Max had shadowed Sheila on much of her walk around the camp, he had left her early to check up on his _Battlemaster._ Now finished and with nothing really to do, Sheila told Elfa that she would be getting some sleep and wandered over to where the Command Lance was laagered. When Elfa saw that she was heading to Max's _Battlemaster_ and not her own _Shruiken_, she smirked and remarked that she doubted Sheila was going to be doing much in the way of resting. Someone else laughed and said they were going to get their holorecorder, and show the Inner Sphere what Commander Arla-Vlata was _really_ like. They were shushed down, because Sheila and Max were far from the only couple thinking along those lines, and all were aware that this might be their last night alive.

For some, that meant quietly contemplating their lives. David Moore leaned against his Pegasus and wrote a letter to his parents; he had written every day, even though the letters could not be sent until they reached friendly space again, but it was a useful way for him to focus his mind. Kaatha stared at the stars from the cockpit of her _Griffin_, hoping the painkillers would start working and that no one was noticing her increasing frailty, wondering if she should seek out her daughter, and deciding for the hundredth time that now was not the time, that Felisanna was either among one of the groups laughing around a campfire or seeking pleasure in another's arms. Nisa Kinosh polished her naginata and wondered if she'd ever get her chance to prove herself to Commander Arla-Vlata. Senefa Malthus actually slept in her _Thunderbolt_, having long since made peace with herself and her world, and awaited only the order to attack.

For others, that meant seeking out their friends, sitting around the campfire for warmth, and either telling tall tales or simply enjoying each other's presence. Shasti Buena played her fiddle and sang, as she had done every night of the operation since they had left Sudeten, and Felisanna, Tooriu and Bien danced around the fire with others. Marion Rhialla and Elfa had found partners in crime with Jacqueline Shaw and Glynnis Griffin, and formed the Snowbirds Branch of the Old Hag Society. They talked about battles and old friends, some long dead, some very much alive. Fianna Cassidy, Jackson Dinson, and Dennis Dorinson, along with their crews, played poker, which soon erupted in Gaelic accusations of cheating and a brawl between Cassidy and Dorinson, which the others promptly began to bet on.

For still others, it was a time for prayer: Maysa Bari led Dan Polycutt and five others in the rosary; Ariel Munroe and the Drakon twins passed around a Bible and discussed verses; Kahvi Falx spun a Buddhist prayer wheel with Marcus Drax, who was an agnostic and didn't even speak Japanese, but felt the need for some sort of spiritual comfort.

And some, like Sheila and Max, sought out lovers, wives, and husbands. Chuck Badaxe and Maria Thyatis gave up on attempting lovemaking in the head of an _Atlas_, which was surprisingly cramped for being the biggest 'Mech in the Snowbirds, and instead just talked. Philip Scott and Tessya Blackthorn took some blankets, wandered into the woods, and frantically consummated a long courtship. No such long courtship existed between Mimi Stykkis and Troms Fiordur; they simply found an empty tent and went to work. Two tents away, Cecilia Masterson and Kassy Holliday were already on their second round.

Sheila and Max said nothing to each other. She followed him up the ladder to the _Battlemaster's_ cockpit, where Max folded down the rear seat. Once she had settled herself down, he closed the canopy and polarized it, just in case. Getting out of their clothes in a space barely five feet long and three feet wide was not easy, but with much laughing and occasional cursing as elbows struck protrusions or knees went into stomachs, they managed. Though the temptation was to hurry and get things done quickly—after all, the radio might crackle with the alert of a Clan airstrike or surprise attack at any time—Sheila and Max took their time loving each other. When it was over, Sheila snuggled up against Max as he pulled the covers over her. "You okay?" he whispered.

"More than okay," Sheila murmured happily in the afterglow. "I think I bumped my head on the canopy bow a few times. You don't have to be so, um, enthusiastic."

"You didn't have to be on top," Max grinned.

Sheila yawned. "Rank has its privledges."

"Sheila, about the southern force…"

Sheila put a finger on his lips. "Shush. Don't ruin a beautiful moment by talking shop."

Max couldn't argue with that logic. Sheila put her head on his chest and they drifted off to sleep.


	3. Snowblind

_AUTHOR'S NOTES: Chapter 3—and at last, there was some 'Mech fighting. Geez. You'd think this was a Battletech story or something._

_REVIEWER'S CORNER:_

_SulliMike: Well, when your back is against the wall, you've got to be audacious or you're going to be screwed. L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace!_

_Flashpoint: Yep and yep. Sheila and Max haven't been married a year yet, so they're still kinda newlyweds—or as Mesha in _Gold Digger_ put it, the secret to a successful marriage is "Respect, empathy, compassion, communication, and a healthy amount of perpetual lust for each other!" And yep, as this chapter will show, what can go wrong usually does._

_Mosin: I'm glad to see that Dowlings, and now Lossiemouth, are making an impression. I was afraid that they might be throwaway characters. (Lossiemouth is named after the RAF station of the same name, BTW.) When it comes to marriages and birth rates, a woman held hostage in Kuwait during the First Gulf War did an informal study: she found that women's libidos fade to almost nothing, as they concentrate on survival, whereas men's libidos soared to the point that they wanted sex all the time. She did not think this was proof that men are pigs, but rather a reawakening of ancient biological urges to ensure that some of humanity survives. Oh, and you should like my Inu-Yasha stories; you don't have to be a fan to really get what's going on, and most of them are written strictly for laughs. I _wish_ I could publish these…though Catalyst is now printing new novels, so who knows?_

_Rogue: Well, you'll find out. Bien and Felisanna are just good friends right now—since I don't "own" Bien, I didn't want him doing something that the real Bien might not like! And thanks again for the drawing. _

_MUSIC CORNER: "The Launch" from _Apollo 13, _"German Advance" from _Patton, _and "SOCCENT Attack" from the new _Transformers. _(Ever notice how the Battle of the Bulge music from _Patton_ just _sounds_ cold?)_

* * *

_Mount Brecon_

_New Caledonia, Clan Wolf Occupied Zone_

_25 November 3051_

"Snowbird Actual from Tigerstripe." The radio had them both instantly awake. Sheila reached over and grabbed the headset, putting it on. "Actual."

"Snowbird, hate to disturb you, but it's go time."

"Roger that. I'll be at the CP in five." Sheila put down the headset and began searching for her uniform. She squeaked a little when she felt Max's hands on her bottom. "Hey!"

"Sorry," Max said, still grinning. "Nice rump shaking in my face…impossible to resist." His hands moved around to her thighs and crept upwards.

Sheila's breath caught in her throat. "Stop," she said huskily, "or _I_ won't be able to resist, and we'll lose the whole battalion."

Max withdrew his hands and sighed. "Fucking Clanners."

"Roger that." Sheila threw his underwear in his face. "Bastards don't know how to fight a war."

* * *

Marion leered at them when they arrived in the CP, ostentatiously checking her watch. "Two minutes late. You work fast, Max."

Max knew better than to take it personally by now. "Who said I was doing the work?" He sat down and leaned back against Shaw's Hawkslayer, which formed one wall of the CP, and looked smug. Marion raised an eyebrow and looked at Sheila, who smiled modestly and shrugged. "I hate you," Marion said. "Both of you."

"You hate everyone." Elfa came into the tent, followed by Moore. "What's wrong now?"

"Nothing. Sheila was apparently polishing—"

"—up Marion's discharge papers," Sheila overrode her, though she still blushed. Moore looked away and coughed politely, while Elfa chuckled evilly. Lossiemouth ducked her head in, took one look around, and said, "Aye, now, what am I missin' here?"

"Nothing," Sheila repeated, because it was time to go to work. "Nessie, you know what to do. Are you ready?"

"Aye. One pass, haul arse." She looked at them for a long moment, then winked. "See ye on the flip side." Then she was gone, to her aerofighters.

"Any questions?" Sheila asked the others. Moore raised his hand. "Just one," he said. "Who's leading the 'Mech force with me?"

"I'll do it," Max said, before Sheila could speak. "My _Battlemaster_ will give the southern force some firepower, just in case. Besides, I've got experience commanding something larger than a lance."

"So does Peter Nicholas," Sheila protested.

"Do you trust him?" Max countered.

Sheila stared at her husband, who only half an hour ago had been loving her so intensely, and was now trying to talk her into letting him do something very dangerous. And worse, he was right. Nicholas was the only person of lance commander rank who had more experience than Max that she could spare, and there was too much of a chance he would do something rash. He was already talking about leading a charge once they cleared the tunnel. "Fine," Sheila said coldly, "you take the southern force." She turned away so the others would not see and bit her lip to keep the tears away.

Elfa covered for Sheila's indiscretion. "So the southern force will consist of Max, Philip, Marcus, Larry, Mike Vragel, Glynnis, Michelangelo Burke, and Dan Polycutt. Two lances. That should be enough." Moore nodded, filling in the 'Mechs behind the names: a _Battlemaster, Valkyrie, Phoenix Hawk, Dragonfly, Ryoken, Panther, Grasshopper, _and _Dervish._ The two Clan 'Mechs would be a good force multiplier: he planned to put them out front, a short distance from the main body, so that the Wolves might think it was a friendly force. Both Burke and Griffin had commanded lances in the past, so they would have no problems helping him and Max lead an _ad hoc_ unit. Moore would take the techs with him. "Any other questions?" Elfa asked. There were no more. "Okay. Let's do it." Marion and Elfa walked out of the tent. Moore hesitated, told Sheila he would meet her outside, and followed them.

"Why?" was all Sheila said.

"Sheila," Max said, standing and putting his hands on her shoulders, "I'm your husband, but I'm also the best man for the job. I helped you plan this. You need someone with experience down there, someone you can trust implicitly. I don't necessarily like this—I'm gonna worry about you the whole damn trip—but it's in the best interests of the Snowbirds. Not us, no." Max paused. "There's also Louisa to think about." Sheila slowly nodded, seeing the logic and hating it. With Max going with the southern force and Sheila leading the northern, they increased the chances that at least one would survive to return to Louisa. _But how can I live without you?_ Sheila thought, and couldn't hold back a sob. "Ah God, baby," Max whispered, and drew Sheila into a hug, stroking her hair as she cried into his shoulder. He held her for a long moment, even as the tent began to be struck around them.

* * *

Fires were doused, tents were taken down and folded into storage compartments, and everyone was either in a tank or in their 'Mechs. Only foxholes, burned spots, and crushed grass betrayed the Snowbirds had ever been there.

Sheila twisted around in the seat of her _Shruiken._ Minutes before, she had been bundled up in cold weather gear; now she was wearing the abbreviated outfit of a MechWarrior, the interior of the cockpit a comfortable temperature, even as it plunged outside below freezing and a few snowflakes drifted down around the _Shruiken's_ canopy. On her Heads-Up Display, she zoomed in on the distant valley, seeing the tiny fires of the 11th Wolf Guards. As the chronometer ticked past 1900 Hours, explosions erupted by the camp and silvery flames darted in and out of the clouds. Lossiemouth was launching a quick raid, which hopefully would get John Ward thinking he was about to be attacked. Once that was done, she would take her remaining fighters and orbit over the southern force as long as she could, then make the arduous climb up New Caledonia's gravity well to the DropShips.

Sheila reached forward, stopped, sighed, and keyed her radio. "Snowbird to Claw Actual. Move out."

"Claw Actual. Roger that. Good luck." Moore signed off. The 28 MechWarriors—accompanied by 21 infantrymen of the Light Infantry detachment, who shivered atop the 'Mechs--of the northern force watched the 14 tanks and eight 'Mechs file away down the road. They had their lights on, as they wanted any Clan scout to see them. Max's _Battlemaster_ brought up the rear, and he passed close enough to Sheila for her to see him put a hand on the canopy in silent farewell. Sheila did the same and watched until he had disappeared around the bend. She took her hand away, dried her eyes, and settled herself in the ejection seat. "Snowbird to all Bird elements. Forward…" She waited until she heard the order repeated by Marion and Elfa. "…march."

And so it began. The Snowbirds began the long climb up the slopes of Mount Brecon. It was slow going, because the trees impeded progress. No lights could be used and the clouds blocked the moon and made starlight useless, though the 'Mechs could use infrared. They began to run into deep snow, and those 'Mechs so equipped could use their jumpjets. Those that didn't had to slog upwards, and Sheila had to make sure that the lances weren't being broken apart. She felt a bit like a wagon boss or a convoy commander, making sure her charges didn't lose the trail or get strung out. The lances kept open formation in any case, but with a few exceptions, maintained the pace. Amazingly, no one fell, though Maysa's _Rifleman_ slipped once, causing a comical display of a 60-ton BattleMech windmilling its arms around as Maysa instinctively did all she could to keep it upright. Kahvi wedged her _Dragon_ beneath it until Maysa found footing. As the snow got deeper, more slips happened, but the snow cushioned any falls, and damage was limited only to pride. Halfway up the mountain, Sheila allowed them a ten minute rest: though the myomer muscles and ferro-aluminum bones of the 'Mechs were the ones being strained, it was hard on the MechWarrior as well. Sheila found that she was sweating, her arms, shoulders, and legs aching from constantly using the control sticks and foot pedals to move the 75 tons of _Shruiken_ around and keep it from sliding down the mountain. She tightbeamed a radio call to Mimi Stykkis, almost a kilometer away but still keeping up with her lance. "Rake Three, how're you holding up?"

Mimi's voice was thick with fatigue. "I'm tactical, Snowbird. Hurts like hell…but I'm tactical."

Sheila laughed softly. Mimi had kept her promise. The day before they had left Sudeten, she had proven to Sheila and Marion that she could exit her _Crusader_ in fifteen seconds; she had actually proven better at the latter half of the egress exercise, which involved climbing down a rope ladder or sliding down a rope. Mimi's upper body strength was now much higher than just about anyone else in the battalion, and she easily made her way down the rope—and then, just to rub it in, climbed back up to the cockpit using nothing but her arms. Still, Sheila worried. She looked to her immediate left, where Kaatha's _Griffin_ sat. "Snowbird Two, you okay?"

"I'm fine, Actual." Kaatha sounded surprised Sheila would ask. Sheila had noticed the older woman in pain and trying to hide it. Kaatha had been her usual dependable self otherwise, but Sheila had caught her swallowing some ugly looking pills. She had admitted they were painkillers to Sheila, saying they were for arthritis. Sheila made a mental note to order Kaatha to the hospital when they reached friendly space; Doc Rabbit had cleared her on Sudeten, but there was something going on Sheila didn't like. "How are you?"

"Okay, thanks." Sheila switched frequencies to the battalion net. "Snowbirds, break time's over. Let's move out. Skirmishers forward." That would be Tessya's Alpha Recon and Megan O'Reilly's Charlie Medium. She gave them a minute or two to move forward—Megan and Felisanna's _Wolfhounds_ were having a tough go of it in the snow and lacked jumpjets—then the rest of the Snowbirds began to follow.

After another ten minutes of slogging, nearly falling, and assorted cursing, the ground began to level out, until they were marching more or less level. Sheila didn't need to hear the sighs of relief in the column; her muscles instantly were thankful for the better ground. The oppressive mood seemed to lighten a bit as well, though it was still pitch black with occasional flurries of snow. The trees thinned to scattered groves, though they were only on a shelf; the upper heights of Mount Brecon loomed to their left, disappearing into the clouds. They would bypass those snow-choked heights to the south, climb over one narrow ridge twelve kilometers distant, and then descend into the open mine pit. Sheila checked her chronometer: it had been three hours since they had left the encampment. She wished she could radio Max and make sure he was all right, but it was impossible in any case: she was limited to line-of-sight up here, and mountains to the south, the Wylder Range, blocked radio communications. She wondered if the Wolves had guessed the Snowbirds were moving yet.

"What the hell is that?" Frederick Matria wondered over the open net. His _Chameleon_ pointed at the ground, and Sheila looked in that direction. It was a stream of some sort, and Sheila was surprised to see it wasn't frozen. A closer examination revealed why: it was heavily polluted. Sheila looked up and saw that Tessya had paused as well to inspect the stream, but the sensors atop her _Wasp_ were moving. "Talisman, Snowbird. Do you have something?"

"I'm not sure," Tessya replied. "There's tracks…but I can't tell…wait one, Snowbird."

"Roger that." Sheila brought up the _Shruiken's_ weapon arm to call for a halt. If Tessya thought she detected something, it was always smart to hold off. She noticed O'Reilly stop as well, though she was ahead and hidden in a copse of trees, unable to see Sheila's signal. She had seen Tessya halt, though.

The _Wasp_ emulated its human pilot, turning in place, bending down, even moving its hand through the ground as Tessya fell back on skills over three thousand years old. The ground was muddy, and if there had been anything heavy in the area—like a 'Mech or an Elemental battlearmor suit—it would leave a trail. The _Wasp_ straightened and turned back to Sheila, raising its hand to move out.

It was then that two blue PPC bolts reached out from the rocks ahead of them.

No one screamed ambush; no one had to. The PPC shots had been aimed at Tessya and would've crippled or destroyed the 'Mech had they connected, but they had been fired in haste and missed. From behind a jumble of granite slabs, a _Puma_ suddenly raced out to engage the Recon Lance. Sheila spotted a _Fenris_ with a stubby arm reached out, as if willing the _Puma_ to come back. It was too late: whether by accident or design, the Wolf MechWarrior had tripped his ambush too early.

It was also too late for the MechWarrior. Though Sheila wondered why the warrior couldn't have noticed there was the better part of a full battalion in front of him before, the _Puma_ seemed to hesitate as it stopped. It turned to engage Tessya again, but she was already sailing away on silver jumpjets. At that moment, the entire forward line of the Snowbirds, a dozen 'Mechs strong, opened fire. A Gauss shot took its legs out from under it, but before the _Puma _could crash to the ground, missiles and lasers raked its chest, flaying away armor in an instant. The OmniMech struck the ground and exploded in a fireball. There was no ejection.

"Fred, jam their transmissions!" Sheila yelled, not bothering with callsigns in the heat of the moment. Matria understood and ran his _Chameleon_ forward, simutaneously switching on the Guardian ECM suite that had been refitted to his machine on Sudeten. Instantly, the Clan radio frequencies were swamped with white noise. "Snowbirds, general attack!" Sheila ordered, which allowed the 'Mechs to charge forward without paying attention to lance order. The emphasis was now on speed: they had to catch the Clan warriors before they could retreat out of the ECM blanket and radio a contact report, or worse, get away. Sheila raced forward as well, leaping over the burning remains of the _Puma_ and, in the brief second that she hung on her jumpjets, got a quick look at the sudden battlefield.

It had been a Clan recon Star. She saw two more _Pumas_ and two _Fenrises_ retreating from where they had been hidden in the rocks and trees. As she watched, the _Pumas_ turned to fight, sacrificing themselves to give the faster _Fenrises_ a chance to get clear. It was a brave but vain move: as the _Fenrises_ turned their backs on the onrushing Snowbirds to run up to full speed, O'Reilly unleashed Charlie Medium to cut them off. As Robert Drakon pounded the lead _Fenris_ with large laser fire, his sister leapt to one side of the Clan 'Mech and raised her right arm. The Autocannon/20 vomited a torrent of heavy shells into the_ Fenris'_ right leg. The Clansman spun and went down. The other was engaged by O'Reilly and Felisanna's _Wolfhounds_, but seemed to be pulling away. Sheila fired her PPCs at it, although it was an impossible shot, hoping to throw off the Clansman. She missed, but Kaatha, sliding to a halt, didn't. She raised her _Griffin_'s PPC and opened up: the blue bolt lit up the countryside and struck the _Fenris_ atop its blocky head. The Clan 'Mech instantly went down, and though it stirred somewhat and tried to get up, indicating Kaatha's shot hadn't killed the pilot, Felisanna moved in and finished it off. She threw her mother a thumbs-up, not knowing how much better that small gesture made Kaatha feel.

It was simply a massacre. One _Puma_ pilot found himself between Copeland and Mimi's _Crusaders,_ spotted a _Loki_, and instinctively ran towards something that looked friendly. Elfa blasted him with two PPCs. The _Puma_ staggered and then went down under the autocannon of Kahvi Falx's _Dragon._ The other _Puma_ got disoriented, ran south to avoid LRM fire from Tooriu's lance, came around a line of trees, and ran headlong into Marion Rhialla's Command Lance, which was too slow to get into the fight. The _Puma_ simply disappeared under a hailstorm of Gauss Rifle and PPC fire. The battle was over in less than five minutes; half the Snowbirds never got a chance to shoot.

"Anyone hit?" Sheila asked. "Companies, check in."

"Falcon Three has some arm damage," Senefa reported. That would be Togan Nordkoping's _Warhammer._ "Nothing to worry about."

"Snowbird, Rake Three," Mimi radioed. "Rake Actual is down."

_Shit,_ Sheila thought, _Copeland._ She turned and moved in that direction, but by the time she reached Bravo Fire's position, Copeland already had his _Crusader_ back on its feet. "I'm fine," he told her. "Just knocked the wind out of me and gave me some leg damage, that's all."

Sheila inspected the hit professionally. The armor had been blasted off, exposing myomer muscles. Something sparked inside. "You're hit worse than that, Rake."

"Yeah, I lost a lower leg actuator," Copeland admitted. "I'll be okay, Snowbird. I mean it."

"Okay, Rake." Sheila smiled wryly. A MechWarrior would rather pilot a half-destroyed 'Mech than chance losing his ride. Seeing her radio blinking for her attention, she switched back to the battalion net. "Snowbird Actual."

"Snowbird, this is Rifle Six. We've got a prisoner." It was Nisa Kinosh.

"On my way." Sheila marched over to where the two _Fenrises_ lay burning. She saw a knot of people over by some trees. Deciding to risk it, she told Elfa she'd be leaving the radio for a moment, opened the canopy, instantly started to shiver as cold air hit her exposed flesh, and quickly drew on some thermal pants and her coat. She shimmed down the rope ladder and crunched through the snow to Kinosh. She looked down at a Clan MechWarrior, who was dressed in the one-piece, much more efficient Clan cooling suit. He was propped against a tree, but other than a trickle of blood from his scalp that the SLI medic was looking over, looked all right. Sheila looked at the tabs on his shoulders: this man was a Star Captain. _If there's more Clanners out there…no, they'd have hit us by now._

Sheila knelt down and put out a hand. "Star Captain? I'm Commander Sheila Arla-Vlata, Snowbirds SMCAT."

The man was too much in shock to do much more than shake her hand in return. "Star Captain Kenberg Radick, Trinary Striker, 352nd Assault Cluster." Sheila had already spotted the patch on his uniform: a silver wolf against crossed swords. Below it was another, a silver man riding a horse. "Codex number—"

"That's not necessary, Star Captain. What are you doing out here?"

Radick was not in shock that much. "My men, where are my men?" he asked.

Sheila turned to Kinosh, who shook her head. "We captured only one other that ejected. His leg had caught on something…it was torn off. He begged us to kill him. We did." For the first time, Sheila noticed Kinosh's naginata, splashed with blood that still steamed in the cold. "It was quick, sir," she told Radick. "There was no dishonor. The others are dead; they never ejected."

"I understand. Thank you," Radick told her. To Sheila, he said, "I am sorry, Commander; I cannot answer your questions."

Sheila nodded. She bent closer to him, hating to do this but having no choice. "Star Captain Radick, I am going to ask one more question. If you answer it, fine. If you refuse or I think you're lying, I'll have my infantry strip you naked and leave you here to freeze to death." There were gasps around the circle of even these hardened infantrymen. "The question is: was your Star alone?" She held his gaze.

Radick, who only ten minutes before had been in a nice, warm BattleMech, and now suddenly was the sole survivor of his Star, broke completely. "Yes. Recon," he answered resignedly. "We were up to observe if you were coming over the mountain. I was going to let you pass when I saw your numbers, but that young freebirth Ediver panicked when he thought you had spotted them. I told the fool to stay put, but he attacked."

"Did you get off a contact report?" That was two questions, but Sheila saw an advantage and pressed it.

"No. No time, even if you hadn't jammed us." He looked down, defeated. "Your bondsman, Commander." He unclipped his knife and handed it to her.

She pushed it back. "No room for prisoners." Sheila reached into his belt and pulled out his survival radio, which she handed to Kinosh. "We'll leave you a thermal tent, some blankets, and some food, Star Captain. If I make contact with your Cluster and I have a chance to, I'll tell them where you are. I'm sorry, but I can't leave you your radio." Radick nodded; it was more than he had expected, which was that the Snowbirds would either simply kill him or leave him tied to a tree. "Snowbirds, mount up." She stood, brushed the snow off her knees, then nodded to Kinosh. The SLI platoon leader looked shocked at her, but saluted as she moved off.

Sheila got back in her _Shruiken_ and closed the canopy before stripping off the winter gear. Once she was strapped in, she radioed Elfa with what she had learned. "That's not good," Elfa replied. "Kerensky isn't sitting there waiting for us, he's already moving west. Impatient little cuss, isn't he?"

"Maybe not," Sheila argued. "He could've put recon Stars out here to warn him if we came across the mountains." Even as she said it, Sheila wondered if that could be true. Clansmen were tough, but Radick had looked relieved to be left alone in a hostile wilderness. She wondered if the main body of the 352nd Assault was moving over the mountains. If that was the case, either Kerensky was dumb enough to try and move his Cluster over horrible terrain, or he somehow knew about the tunnels. Or worse, he was moving the bulk of his force down the main road, where they would run squarely into Max and the southern force. "No point in worrying about it now. Let's move it."

"Roger that." Elfa sounded less than enthusiastic, but she agreed with Sheila. There was no going back in any case. This time, however, the Snowbirds moved slower and more wary. There were Wolves in these mountains.


	4. Into the Pit of Hell

_AUTHOR'S NOTES: Chapter 4—and now for the big 'Mech battle you've been waiting for. This actually tired me out to write this._

_ A few notes:naturally, the 352nd Assault Cluster of Clan Wolf, according to canon, never fought a battle on New Caledonia. The losses here (and in the rest of this story arc) actually reflect the losses the 352nd sustained on Tukayyid._

_ I also don't know what was going on with Fanfiction net and why no one got an alert that the new chapter was up. The same thing happened with my Inu-Yasha story. I suspect strongly that it was because it was rated "M"; apparently FF net is no longer doing alerts for those, and they only show up if you click on the "Rated K-T" tab and change it to "Rated K-M." I've since re-rated both stories as K , which is what I've rated all my other Snowbird stories—since they got a little risque too, hopefully no one will get upset. _

_REVIEWER'S CORNER:_

_Mosin: You should like this chapter then—it's all serious. Marion having a minor fling? It could happen, I guess, but it doesn't really fit with the character. She's married to the Sentinels, and despite her remarkably foul mouth, she did raise Maysa Bari to be a good Catholic girl. She would be a worse hypocrite than she is to be fornicating around. She would also probably say "I'm too old for that" and besides, she couldn't give Elfa hell._

_Flashpoint: I think this chapter will bear out your thoughts. I don't think Radick would've gone along—true, he'd be a bondsman (Senefa never was—she defected of her own free will), but that doesn't mean you instantly get handed a 'Mech._

_Rogue: Yeah, it was an easy fight, but the Wolves were in bad shape: a Recon Star against basically a heavy 'Mech battalion. I don't care if you're Phelan Kell: you don't get out of that one. (Well, maybe Phelan could do it; depends on who's writing him.) This chapter the Snowbirds go up against the varsity._

_SulliMike: Hey, even the elite Wolves have newbies that get excited in their first fight. The French is "Audacity, audacity, always audacity." (Ironically, the quote is attributed to Frederick the Great, who was a German.) _

_MUSIC CORNER: "Tango Urilla" from _Starship Troopers, _"The Infernal Dance of King Katschei" from _Firebird Suite, _and (of course) "Charging Fort Wagner" from _Glory._ Not to toot my own horn too much, but I got goosebumps reading the last few chapters of this while listening to "Charging Fort Wagner."_

* * *

_Mount Brecon_

_New Caledonia, Clan Wolf Occupied Zone_

_25 November 3051_

The Snowbirds cleared the ridge with much trepidation but no opposition. Sheila was beginning to wonder if she was worrying too much. She was sure Radick had been telling the truth—deep down, Sheila knew she would've carried out her threat if he had been obviously lying—but she didn't know how much of the truth he had told. As they continued forward, suddenly Tessya signaled for a halt. "Talisman, Snowbird Actual. What do you have?"

"Look at the horizon, Snowbird."

Sheila did so and cursed herself for not seeing it sooner. For a moment, she thought it was aurora borealis, northern lights. Then she realized the glow was steady, and unlike the greenish shimmers she remembered from Grunwald and Tharkad, it was amber. _City lights,_ Sheila thought. _But there's no city up here._ Sending a quick radio message for the rest of the battalion to stay put, she went forward and joined Tessya. Communicating with hand signals, they went forward. As they approached the lip of the gigantic open-pit mine, both MechWarriors went prone, crawling their 'Mechs forward despite the risk of scraping off armor or antennas. Since Tessya's _Wasp_ was much lighter, she motioned for Sheila to stay back and took the huge risk of crawling to the very edge of the mine, tightbeaming the image back to her commander. Sheila leaned forward and brought up the image on a secondary monitor, and couldn't believe what she saw.

The mine fell away in steps, each wide enough for two 'Mechs to walk line abreast. The polluted stream had made a reappearance, falling away in a hideous green waterfall to a holding pond far below. The pit was easily nearly two kilometers deep, and the floor of the pit was as big as four stadiums put together. The glow came from huge kileg lights set up around the perimeter of the pit, at the last step before the floor, illuminating the area as brightly as daytime.

What was truly stunning was that a Trinary of OmniMechs were forming up on the pit floor. Sheila counted about ten, but more were streaming in. Sheila asked Tessya to crane her head upwards: she could see where the giant steel door that led into the tunnels beneath Mount Brecon was, but the Wolves were coming in from somewhere else. Her heart sank: the Wolves knew about the tunnels. _But there's more than one tunnel,_ Sheila wondered silently. _But how? The 352nd hasn't been onplanet long enough to bore a new one. Hell, the Wolves haven't been onplanet that long! Either the locals didn't know about it, or they were lying. Neither one makes any sense, though. _

Whatever the case with the tunnels, Sheila realized that the Wolves had no idea what was bearing down on them. _Holy crap. The Wolves don't have out any perimeter guards!_ She ordered Tessya to edge back, saying it in a whisper, though there was no way the Wolves could hear her even if she shouted at the top of her lungs. The _Wasp_ moved maddeningly slow, but Sheila knew why: the human eye was attracted to quick movement. Once they were clear, they backtracked to the battalion. Sheila relayed the information to Elfa and Marion. "They're out there with no flank or perimeter guards?" Marion exclaimed. "That's crazy!"

"Not if Kerensky expected that Radick guy to warn him," Elfa put in. "Sheila, I don't think the bastard even suspects we're coming up over the mountains. He thinks we're going south or staying put."

"Concur," Sheila replied, knowing that her enemy had made a terrible error: he had assumed the Snowbirds would do what he wanted them to do, not what they were capable of doing. "I think we should educate him."

"Why not? We can't go around anyway."

"Then what're we waiting for? Let's kill Clanners!" Marion sounded enthusiastic. Sheila felt it too: the wonderful, predatory emotion of realizing that one's enemy was there for the taking. The 352nd Assault Cluster had put themselves squarely in a shooting gallery and didn't even know it.

The plan was quickly outlined to the lances. The Snowbirds slowly moved forward, splitting in half to surround the pit like a crescent—or more accurately, the arms of a hungry bear. Sheila kept her company in the middle. When she could stand the tension no longer, Sheila keyed her radio, "Snowbirds—" She saw a _Mad Cat's_ head look up, and the 'Mech actually jumped, the MechWarrior realizing what was above them. "_—open fire!"_

_"KILL!"_ Marion shouted. Virtually as one, the Snowbirds poured a murderous fire into the pit.

* * *

The Wolves reacted quicker that Sheila had thought. Two 'Mechs, a _Fenris_ and a _Man O'War,_ went down in the first fusillade, both brewing up in huge explosions as missiles and Gauss shells punched through armor into engines or cockpits. Though no Wolf 'Mech escaped damage, no others were destroyed. They went to the perimeter of the pit, facing outwards, and began to return fire.

"Snowbird Alpha jumpers, follow me!" Sheila ordered, and leapt the _Shruiken_ off the lip of the pit. Trying to ignore the weapons fire that reached out towards her, she landed easily on one wide ledge, then leapt again to land squarely in the center of the pit floor. Now the Wolves were truly trapped: they could face inwards to destroy the Snowbirds in their midst, which would leave their backs open to the 'Mechs still atop the crater, or they could continue to stay under cover from the fire above them and risk being shot from behind by Sheila's force. The Wolf commander did the best she could, sending the bulk of her force after Sheila, while others tried to force the Snowbirds on the pit lip to pull back. Sheila had almost her entire company with her: only Badaxe's _Atlas_ and Masterson's _Zeus_ could not jump. More Snowbird 'Mechs with jumpjets leaped down. As Sheila sent two PPC shots into the right arm of yet another _Fenris_, she saw Senefa land hard and nearly fall. A _Puma_ turned to engage, and then the little 'Mech seemed to bounce off the ground as, with a rebel yell, Tooriu Kku slammed down next to it in his _Awesome_, which had been modified with jumpjets. The _Puma_ shuddered and fell under the impact of three PPC bolts. Tooriu ignored the LB-5X and laser fire that barely dented his thick armor, took a step forward, and delivered a brutal kick to the shell-like top of the _Puma_. "Take that, ya little bastard!" he crowed over the open net. "I saved your ass, Senefa!"

Sheila spotted a _ Man O'War_ closing in behind Tooriu, raising a weapon arm that ended in a very large bore. She dashed in at full speed, planted the _Shruiken's_ left foot, and raked its belly with four medium lasers. "Keep your head in the game, Tooriu!" Sheila shouted. The heavy autocannon fire went wide. Tooriu ponderously turned, but now Senefa was engaging, sending a Gauss shell and laserfire into the wounds Sheila had made. The _Man O'War_ pulled back, now engaged with two 'Mechs. Sheila pulled back slightly, letting Senefa and Tooriu finish it. She had to keep control of the battle, if such a thing could be done. She saw an _Uller_ making a run up the ramp to the first step; a smart move, for the little 30-tonner had no chance in the pit. As it raised a long autocannon barrel to engage Fabian Cynmar's _Catapult_, it was hit by lasers. O'Reilly was leading her two _Wolfhounds_ and two _Blackjacks_ down the level, keeping them clear.

Even as the _Uller_ was forced backwards, a _Mad Cat_ fired two flights of missiles at the _Catapult_. Eric Jerome moved his _Archer_ into the line of fire, absorbed the missile fire against his tough armor, and sent more back. The _Mad Cat_ avoided those, only to be struck by PPC fire as Maria Thyatis moved in with her _Wolverine._ She got in too close: the _Mad Cat_ absorbed the shot and blasted her in the chest with large lasers. Thyatis went down, but even as the Clansman closed in for the kill, the entire head of the 'Mech and its glasshouse cockpit disappeared in a fireball audible even over the sounds of battle. Sheila traced back a thick white plume back to Cynmar's _Catapult_, and realized what had happened. _My God, he's using Arrow IV artillery missiles as direct fire weapons! Talk about overkill!_ She moved forward, felt the 'Mech shudder as it took a few missile hits, but saw no attacker; Sheila wondered if she had been hit by her own side. She stuck her 'Mech's hand beneath the _Wolverine_ and helped Thyatis to her feet. "You okay, Maria?"

"I'm all right. Lost the armor on my right side. I'll be okay, Commander." Thyatis tucked in her right arm. It would restrict her range of motion with her PPC, but it provided at least some cover to her wounded flank. Sheila saw a 'Mech go down out of the corner of her eye, and looked in that direction. It was an _Archer_, and it wasn't moving. Sheila tried to get close, spotted a Clan _Dragonfly_ moving up to get behind her, only to stop cold as it was hit by PPC and missile fire. Kaatha had moved her _Griffin_ in to cover her commander. The _Dragonfly_ returned the fire, only to be hit again, and this time fall: now it was Brefudd Dari's turn. He moved in with his _Axeman_ and Sheila winced as the four-ton hatchet fell like a guillotine. Sheila saw Kaatha raked by ruby beams, turned, and engaged a _Black Hawk_, first with her lasers, then with the _Shruiken_'s namesake stars that splashed Inferno fluid across the Clan 'Mech. It was instantly wreathed in fire and the Clan warrior retreated, trying to get his heat level under control before his machine blew up under him. Another _Puma_ raced across the battlefield, its destination unknown; no one would ever know, for a Gauss shell skipped out of the melee, punched through its head, and buried itself in the opposite wall. The _Puma_ tumbled to a halt, its MechWarrior dead, even as missiles savaged its corpse. Senefa had led her target perfectly.

"Snowbird Actual, _come in!"_ Sheila realized that someone had been calling her. "Go ahead!" she yelled back. The battle was the loudest she had ever been in: the mine was acting like a funnel, keeping the sound richocheting back and forth, deafening even through the armored cockpit and her neurohelmet. "Who is this?"

"It's Tiger Actual! We need to take that door!" Sheila saw Marion's giant _Palladium_ moving down the ledges. Fearing mines, Nicia had equipped the 100-ton monsters with two jumpjets that barely put out enough power to move it 60 meters, but it was coming in handy now. Sheila twisted around. One door was open; the other, the one the Snowbirds had known about, remained closed. She didn't know which one Marion meant, but she nodded, forgetting that Marion couldn't see her, and tightbeamed a message to Ariel Munroe, who was contenting herself with sniping rather than risk the fragile _Phoenix Hawk LAM_ in a melee. "Talisman Four, Snowbird Actual! Find Rifle Six and fly her over to the door control booth! I want infantry over there, now!"

* * *

"Roger!" Munroe's 'Mech seemed to fold in on itself as it converted to hybrid mode, then rose up to the top of the pit. Though the Snowbirds' infantry platoon had jump packs and could float down into the mine, it would be suicidal to put any infantry, armored or not, into a bloody close-range battle. Kinosh had kept her infantry together, ready to deploy if ordered and praying she wouldn't be. Just keeping them from being blown away by a stray shot was tough enough. She shrank back from the heat of Munroe's landing. The Rasalhagian MechWarrior opened her canopy and cupped her hands to her lip. "Sergeant Kinosh!"

The LAM's nose hung low to the ground, so Kinosh scrambled over. "Yes, what is it?"

"The Commander wants you to take that control booth over there! The one by the other door!" Kinosh took one look and went pale as the half-melted snow around them. Munroe saw what she was thinking. "Tell you what!" she shouted over the din, "Pick eight of the gutsiest people you have and grab on!" She pointed frantically at the handholds on her 'Mech. "Hurry!" Kinosh was looking at her like she seriously believed Munroe was insane. Nonetheless, she quickly counted off nine other people, crossed herself, and held on to a stanchion for dear life as Munroe closed her canopy and lifted off. The LAM seemed to float over the battlefield, Munroe going as slow as she could, all of them waiting for the missile barrage or Gauss shells that would blot the LAM from the sky; it was a perfect target. Yet nothing happened, and Munroe landed easily next to the control booth. Kinosh, shaking, gave her a thumbs-up as Munroe lifted off to get another batch of infantry. Trying to get control of herself—she was sure that she had wet her pants—Kinosh formed up her fire team and led them towards the booth, only to find that the Wolves had once more beat them to it. She discovered this when the infantryman next to her suddenly was plucked backwards as if pulled. Kinosh instinctively dropped to one knee and saw with horror that most of his head was missing. She had feared, in the peace of the early evening, that she would freeze leading her platoon under fire for the first time. Instead, she was seized with rage. "Kill them!" she shouted, and led her eight remaining infantry in a charge.

By their build, the Wolves were Elementals, but they were not wearing their armor. Kinosh had no time to think about that; it only made her job easier. There were only six of them, but they died hard. She shot one in the shoulder, but the big man only stumbled backwards a pace and raised his rifle. Screaming an oath, Kinosh emptied her assault rifle into him, then saw one of her people clubbed backwards by another Elemental, who was screaming as she did and swinging an empty rifle like a baseball bat. Dropping her own rifle, Kinosh reached back, snapped her naginata into place, and thrust forward. The needlelike blade sank deep into the Elemental's side. The woman screamed, tried to pull the blade out, and then flung the rifle at Kinosh. The latter pushed harder, feeling the naginata scraping against bone. The Elemental screamed once more and died as the naginata found easier going and went straight through her. Kinosh left the blade in and helped her wounded man to his feet. "Door's locked," he puffed out. She pulled her pistol and fired two shots into the lock, but it held. "Dammit." Kinosh looked back over the battlefield, where Munroe was shuttling in the next group of infantry. "I hope someone brought explosives, or we're never getting out of here this way."

* * *

Sheila jumped as a 'Mech crashed to the pit floor next to her; it was Tam Seneca's _Archer_, which looked like it had seen much better days. The 'Mech splayed bonelessly, indicating that Seneca was either dead or unconscious. She looked upwards, just in time to see the _Fenris_ that had knocked him over drop itself as Maysa tore it apart with her _Rifleman_. Sheila could tell that the Snowbirds had the battle in hand: the Wolves were falling back towards the open door, but each one was being engaged by two or three Snowbird 'Mechs.

Then she heard someone scream, "_Enemy 'Mechs, right flank, the tunnel!"_

"Oh my God," Sheila breathed, for in the gloom of the wide tunnel, she saw the gleam of 'Mechs—ranks of them. There were only seconds to react. One quick glance saw the Snowbirds' only chance. "Senefa!" she yelled. "Form line! Form line!"

Senefa was closer to the tunnel, and saw that Sheila's plan wouldn't work in time. She switched on her external speakers and turned up the volume to earsplitting levels. "_Snowbirds! CHARGE!"_ Senefa planted her _Thunderbolt's_ feet, then slammed the throttles forward, running head on into the Wolves as they poured from the tunnel. The few Snowbirds around her—no more than a lance—saw what she was doing and followed. The sudden attack blunted the Wolves even before they were properly deployed. First to fall was a _Fenris_, decapitated by a Gauss shell, but even as Senefa turned to engage a _Mad Cat_, she saw a _Commando_ go down. Senefa spared the MechWarrior a quick salute to courage: no Wolf 'Mech coming through the door weighed less than 45 tons. Bien was next to her, firing his AC/20, while Kahvi supported him with her _Dragon_. Senefa was glad of the company, knowing she was about to die, that the Wolves would soon overwhelm her tiny group, but she was not in the least afraid: dying fighting Clan Wolf was something she had decided long ago was a worthy end.

Suddenly the crowded OmniMechs in front of her disappeared in fountains of dirt and smoke and orange flame. Senefa's mouth dropped open as a glance at her rear monitor told her what was happening: the Snowbirds' two artillery 'Mechs, Cynmar's _Catapult_ and John Lawson's _Spartan,_ the _Longbow_ modified with two Arrow IV canisters, lofted the huge missiles directly into the packed ranks of the Wolves. "Senefa, fall back! _Fall back!"_ Sheila's voice was shrill. Senefa threw both arms to either side, motioning her 'Mechs back while they had a chance at survival. Taking a chance, Senefa turned her back to the Wolves and ran into the clear, and saw what Sheila had been doing in the short thirty seconds since Senefa had made her mad charge. Serried in one rank was every assault 'Mech the Snowbirds had, with Marion Rhialla's stout _Palladium_ in the center. "Snowbirds!" she ordered. "Volley fire!" This meant that every other 'Mech in line would fire with all they had, risking overheating and either shutdown or simply exploding. Then, when the shooters took a few seconds to cool down, the others would fire. Those 'Mechs that did not risk overheating at all could simply hold down the triggers. The Wolves would run into a solid wall of steel. Still taking artillery fire, the Wolves' ranks wavered and then broke, as they looked for cover. To their credit, Marion admitted as she raked a _Mad Cat_, the Wolves did not retreat: some of their assault 'Mechs stood their ground and gave back what they received.

Kinosh had blown the door and gotten inside the control booth. Sheila heard a rumble behind her and saw the door opening with surprising speed, though it had to be almost twenty years since it had last been opened. Rocks and dust fell from it as it crawled upwards. She opened her mouth to get Kinosh to get her infantry inside to find the interior control booth, only to smile as she saw that her infantry leader had already anticipated the order: a squad ran inside. Hoping they would find what they needed, Sheila turned and radioed to Marion. "Tiger, fall back to the door!"

Marion clicked her radio switch twice in response, as she was too busy firing. Then she ordered calmly, "Snowbirds, fall back by sections to the door!" Having lost two 'Mechs to the deadly fusillade, the Wolves took cover in the thick smoke that was covering the floor of the pit, only firing when they saw a good shot, working around the flanks of the Snowbird line. Mimi saw them and shouted a warning, so Sheila came up on Marion's left while Elfa took the right. Slowly, they advanced backwards. Armor dropped like rain from the Snowbird 'Mechs and sparks and sprays of hydraulic fluid betrayed where worse hits had been taken, but so far no one was down. Sheila stole a glance behind: Seneca's _Archer_ was being dragged through the opening by Copeland, while Troms Fiordur limped through, his _Warhammer_'s right leg gone below the knee. Seeing Elfa stumble under the impact of heavy autocannon fire, Sheila ordered her back; she then saw Kahvi's _Dragon_ nearly fall as its left knee crumpled under a PPC bolt, and ordered her back as well. The Kuritan acknowledged, turned, and ran for the door, only to go down as a Gauss shell smashed into her between the _Dragon's_ rounded shoulders. "Kahvi!" Sheila screamed. Elfa stopped, somehow got one of her weapon arms hooked underneath one of the fallen 'Mech's, and dragged it towards the door. Sheila had to turn her attention back to a _Mad Cat_ that was trying to work its way around. She flinched as red laserfire filled her vision for a moment; her battle computer informed her she had taken a head hit. Sheila blinked away spots on her vision, having no time to think about how close to death she had been and now was: one more hit would melt the last of her head armor and likely kill her.

Two agonizing minutes followed, and they felt like hours. Marion carefully sent back 'Mechs from her line as she kept falling back by sections, never letting up with her fire. A heat sink ruptured under the constant stress and sent an overheat alarm warbling in her cockpit, but she ignored it. Finally, only a handful of Snowbirds were left: Sheila, Marion, Kaatha, Maysa, Togan Nordkoping, and Tooriu. Seeing a _Puma_ climb to the next ledge to pour fire on the thin line from above, Felisanna rushed forward. She need not have bothered: Maysa, walking her _Rifleman_ backwards towards the door, simply rotated left and blasted the _Puma_ off the parapet. A _Fenris _tried it next, but found its way blocked by Kaatha and her _Griffin._ A PPC bolt tore through the last of her armor on her left torso, but there was nothing in there that was vital. The _Fenris_ had already been hit as well, so her return PPC fire staggered it; Kaatha pressed the trigger to launch a flight of missiles, despite the close range, but there was silence instead of the familiar woosh and cloud of smoke. Her magazine was empty. The _Fenris_ started forward again, only to reel backward as lasers ripped into it. Kaatha glanced over and saw Felisanna in her _Wolfhound._ "Gotta save your ass again, Mom?" Kaatha's earphones crackled.

"Ungrateful child," Kaatha replied, but she was smiling when she said it.

"Sheila, you're next, go!" Marion yelled. Sheila ignored her, sending her last flight of shruiken stars at an already steaming _Man O'War._ "Sheila, for God's sake, move!" This came from Tooriu. "If you go down, we all go down!" Seeing that Tooriu would probably bodily shove her through the door, Sheila stepped backwards, having to duck her head. The door was opened only as much as it took for a 'Mech to get through. They had to close the door quickly enough to keep the Wolves from following, and Sheila had no idea how they were going to accomplish that, but she would get around to it in a few seconds. Now Tooriu was back through the opening, another _Man O'War_ dropping at his feet as he retreated. He and Sheila continued a steady fire as Felisanna stepped back, knowing her _Wolfhound_ would never survive a toe-to-toe battle with anything in the Clan inventory.

The Wolf fire slackened. Kaatha sent a tightbeam message to Marion. "Go on, Marion. They're letting us go."

"Gimme a minute," Marion replied distractedly. "I put a PPC shot on that fucking _Man O'War_ with the commander's stripe, and if the bastard shows his face again, I'll put a Gauss through it." She tracked, aimed, and fired, though Kaatha couldn't see if she hit anything. Sighing, she reached out, grabbed the _Palladium's_ birdlike head, and shoved backwards. Marion, taken by surprise, stumbled and nearly fell, but tottered back through the door, cursing all the way.

It was at that moment that the Wolves charged.

Erik Kerensky, now present in the pit, abruptly realized that there were only a pitiful few 'Mechs at the door. He ordered a general attack of his own, hoping that the weight of metal would overwhelm the Snowbirds. The first out of the smoke was an overeager _Fenris_, which was gunned down under Togan's PPCs. Then the _Warhammer_ went down, its head smashed in by autocannon fire, and Kaatha was alone.

She smiled: the choice was easy now. "Get out of here," she said calmly but firmly, and ran forward. Kerensky, leading the charge, was knocked backward when the _Griffin_ slammed a shoulder into him.

"NO!" Felisanna saw her mother disappear into the crowd of 'Mechs and ran forward. Her _Wolfhound_ caromed off Tooriu's _Awesome,_ who stepped in front. Sheila, even as she felt tears on her face, was shouting for Kinosh to close the door, stepping back as a _Man O'War_ broke from the pack and crossed the threshhold, and knowing that Kaatha's sacrifice would be in vain because the door would not close fast enough.

Yet Nisa Kinosh had no intention of letting the door rumble closed. Her platoon sergeant had packed enough plastic explosive to open a new mine along, and she used all of it—on the heavy myomer cables that opened and closed the door. Leaping away on her jump pack, Kinosh pressed a button, and the myomers were blown apart in one thunderous explosion. The door, freed of its blocks, hurtled downwards, crushing the _Man O'War_ under its twenty thousand ton weight.

Sheila stared at the door. Behind her were her remaining Snowbirds. Behind the door were too many more.


	5. Counting the Dead

_AUTHOR'S NOTES: Chapter 5—this is the "eye of the hurricane" chapter of this story arc. Next time the BIG battle begins. What little humor is in this story arc is in here, so enjoy it while it lasts. It's also a long (very long!) chapter, as I didn't want to break up the tension too much, but I had to cover some ground: what Mount Brecon really is, and to check and see how Max and the tanks are doing, as well as get some insight into the Wolf MechWarriors and what they're up to. Finally, we also get a tiny bit of insight into Sheila's heritage._

_REVIEWER'S CORNER:_

_Kat: I like the strategic stuff too. I'm a little worried that the next chapter is going to read too much like a textbook. (And it's good to see you again—I have _really_ got to read your stories.)_

_Panzerfaust: Thanks, but as this chapter will reveal, it wasn't Erik Kerensky who got crushed under the door. He's alive, well, and pissed off. When it comes to the Wolves, I want to show them as elite warriors; if the Snowbirds win, it's mainly desperation. As for Marion…well, she has to survive the war, first._

_Flashpoint: I've actually got this story finished (been bored a lot this week, and I love to write), so I'm going to try and update as much as possible. At least the MechWarrior/Battletech board is fairly static—my Inu-Yasha story was buried 134 stories deep the day after I updated it. We've also got, IMHO, a much higher-quality group of writers over here at MW/BT. At least no one's writing 36 different versions of Vlad Ward and Katherine Steiner-Davion playing truth or dare here. (Hmm…there's an idea…) The Snowbirds? They get a little break here._

_SulliMike: I didn't actually say how the Wolves know of the mines in this chapter (I will in the next), but I think you'll connect the dots anyway._

_Mosin: There's a complete run-down of the casualties in this chapter. One correction, though: the Snowbirds are taking on only one Cluster, the 352nd Assault. Two would plow them under in a hurry. And I'm in total agreement on the _Man O'War._ It's not a very good design, compared to others in its class. I realized after I stuck the 352nd in there that they have a ton of _Man O'Wars_, and believe me, the Snowbirds are going to have a much easier time against these 'Mechs than they would against _Masakaris_ and _Gladiators.

_MUSIC CORNER: "Flying High" from the _We Were Soldiers_ soundtrack, "Ivory Tower" from _The Neverending Story, _and the main theme from _Wild Arms 3.

* * *

Erik Kerensky hacked and coughed, then brushed away the medic that treated his cut nose. "Star Colonel," she told him, "you are still bleeding, quiaff? Let me treat that—"

"There are others who need your work more than I. A warrior knows when to just let things bleed." He stood, shoved her away, and walked towards where his _Man O'War_ stood. He had taken bad hits to the right leg from a Gauss Rifle and a huge divot was gouged out of the left side of the torso by the _Griffin's_ mad charge. He spotted Point Commander Nela Tutuola, who had just finished getting out of her Elemental armor, and motioned her over. "Well?"

Tutuola knew what the Star Colonel meant, and looked ashamed. "I am sorry, sir. My people, they…well, they butchered Point Commander Divik's unit at the control booth, Star Colonel. So when the _Griffin_ went down, we…did not take the pilot prisoner."

"You killed her."

"She had a pistol, sir."

Though Tutuola was six inches taller than Kerensky and twice as broad, he slapped her hard across the face. "A pistol! You were in full armor! I needed that one!" He wanted to know where the Snowbirds were going, what they intended to do, how they knew of the tunnels. Kerensky had known of the tunnels long before he came to New Caledonia. Now his only prisoner had been killed by overzealous Elementals. He shoved past Tutuola, infuriated. The Elemental trailed in his wake. He reached the shattered cockpit of the _Griffin_ and looked down at the body of the MechWarrior. She had been shot half a dozen times with the Elementals' machine guns, any one of which would've been fatal. Kerensky scowled. An old woman, probably on the verge of retirement, and had decided to go down fighting. She was a freebirth, and Kerensky hated freebirths of all stripes, but even he knew courage when he saw it. "Bury the body next to the 'Mech, Tutuola." He would do that much for this MechWarrior Kaatha.

He jumped off the fallen 'Mech and surveyed the pit. It was a charnel house. There were so many burning wrecks that he couldn't tell who had been destroyed. He saw Star Captain Zora Vickers, who had been commanding the van of his 352nd Assault Cluster. She was sitting crosslegged in the shadow of her _Fenris_, which looked every bit as forlorn as she did. "Star Captain!" He walked to her. She looked up tiredly at him. "Star Captain," he repeated, "where is your Trinary?"

Two tears streaked down Vickers' cheeks. "Star Colonel," she cried, "I have no Trinary." Then she put her head between her legs and sobbed. She turned away, embarrassed beyond belief, but too exhausted to care. He stared at her in shock; Kerensky had never seen trueborns cry this way. Finally, he too turned away, as his aide, MechWarrior Ghita Ward, came up to him. "Sir," he said quietly, "we have a preliminary butcher's bill." He handed the datapad to Kerensky.

It was bad. Of his own Trinary Command, two 'Mechs were down. One could be repaired, but the other was a write-off; the _Man O'War_ of MechWarrior Kerry lay crushed below the massive door to the east tunnel. Zora Vickers' Trinary Battle was indeed decimated. Of the 15 'Mechs that had marched into the pit mine, only nine were still operational, and four of those were so badly damaged it would take a full 'Mech bay to repair them. Four MechWarriors were dead, along with the entire five-man Elemental Point of Divik's. Nor had he heard from Kenberg Radick's Alpha Striker Star, which had been sent out ahead to scout the Snowbirds' encampment. Since his Star lay on the Snowbirds' line of march, he had to consider them a writeoff as well. That meant the 352nd Assault Cluster had lost thirteen 'Mechs in under an hour. "What are the Snowbirds' casualties? Any estimates?"

Ward hesitated, then gave his commander more bad news. "We have spotted four on the field, sir, and I personally spotted two being dragged into the tunnel. So we can assume six destroyed or damaged."

"Out of how many?"

"Star Commander Lurline estimated about two Trinaries, sir, perhaps thirty 'Mechs—plus some infantry." Ward paused, seeing his commander's anger growing. "Star Colonel, with respect. Trinary Battle only had a single assault 'Mech and two heavies. The rest of the unit were lights and mediums. You saw that battle line yourself, Star Colonel—the Snowbirds had assaults, and ones armed like no Inner Sphere unit we have encountered so far. It also appears they have captured OmniMechs, probably from the Jade Falcons. Trinary Battle was outnumbered and far outgunned."

Kerensky visibly was fighting for control. He knew Ghita Ward was right; Vickers deserved a commendation just for surviving, considering the odds and the fact that she had been taken completely by surprise. Had it been the Jade Falcons or the Smoke Jaguars, he would proud of her. But these had been _freebirths_ that had done this to his Cluster, his very own. And freebirth mercenaries at that, hireswords that fought for the highest bidder. "Any tanks?" he asked Ward.

"No sir. That is very strange, quiaff? The Snowbirds have tanks, that we are sure of."

"Any word from our fighters or Star Colonel John Ward?"

"Our fighters are still grounded, sir—the stravag weather. John Ward reported he had suffered a minor airstrike, but nothing more. He said that he would march at dawn."

Kerensky grunted in reply. He could expect no help from that quarter. It had been John Ward's private fight with the Snowbirds, and Kerensky had come to New Caledonia for the specific purpose of taking away the 11th Wolf Guards' victory. The Guardsmen, who were mostly Wardens, would undoubtedly be pleased to see their rivals get their noses bloodied. "Very well," Kerensky said, half to himself and half to Ward. "What are our current dispositions?"

"Trinary Command, Bravo Elemental, and Trinary Battle—what is left of it—are here in the pit, Star Colonel. Trinary Assault is waiting at the far end of the middle tunnel, the one we came through. Trinary Striker, minus Alpha Striker Star, is moving towards Wylder Ridge along with Alpha Elemental."

"Cancel Trinary Striker's orders. Tell Star Commander Willic Vickers that he is now brevetted Star Captain and is in command. I want him to move down and take the highway tunnel at Rogue Pass, then set an ambush. The Snowbirds are moving their tanks on the road, hoping we will not notice, quiaff?"

"Aff, Star Colonel…but should not Star Captain Marijoan Shaw take command? She is the senior officer, even if she is an Elemental."

"No, Ghita. She is too gentle for what I have in mind—she will obey orders, but she will not obey the one I will give." Kerensky's eyes were steel. "Inform Willic to destroy all the tanks and kill everyone with them. No prisoners. None."

Ghita looked horrified. "Star Colonel—"

Kerensky silenced him with a wave of his hand. "The Snowbirds will pay for what they did to us." He slapped the Cluster's emblem on his jumpsuit. "I want the word to spread to these freebirth bastards of the Inner Sphere that they do not fuck with the Silver Wolves!" The epithet was common enough in Inner Sphere MechWarrior circles to barely bat an eye; the crude reference to sexual intercourse was considered unbelievably vile in the Clans. "Radio Star Captain Tobi to remain in position and meet us at the east portal. Leave Trinary Battle and Bravo Elemental to clean up here, then follow when they can. Then find me a decent map of this place, and where that other tunnel comes out at!"

Ghita made one last try. "Star Colonel, I…killing prisoners, sir?"

"You have your orders, MechWarrior. Carry them out or I will find someone who will." Kerensky stormed off.

* * *

Erik Kerensky might have been angrier had he known that the Snowbirds were in equally bad shape, and that the source of his problems, Sheila Arla-Vlata, was less than a hundred yards from him. Of course, an impenetrable wall of granite separated them.

Sheila stared at the door for a long time. Finally, she shook it off. They had to keep moving. "Oak Actual. Get them up and moving."

Elfa sounded equally aghast and exhausted. Everyone was breathing hard and covered in sweat, as if they had run a marathon; no Snowbird 'Mech lacked at least some damage. "Snowbird, we need some time—"

"Now, dammit! We don't know if the Wolves have side tunnels. They could be marching in on us right now." Angrily, Sheila switched frequencies. "Claw Six, climb aboard the nearest available 'Mechs."

"Roger that."

Sheila's anger abated somewhat. "Claw Six, well done."

"Thank you, Snowbird." Nisa Kinosh was obviously happy to hear that, but she seemed drained as well. Her 18 remaining troopers found 'Mechs to hold onto. The tunnel was surprisingly damp, and it was warmer than outside.

"Talisman, Snowbird," Sheila radioed, then realized that she wasn't sure who was left. "Are you still with me?"

"Still here, Snowbird," Tessya Blackthorn replied. "Do you want a sitrep?"

"It'll have to wait." Sheila saw the _Warhammer_ of Troms Fiordur slowly climbing back to its feet. "Wolf Four, are you okay?"

"I'm tolerable, ma'am. Still hear bells ringing."

She noticed that Tam Seneca's _Archer_ was still motionless. The 'Mech looked badly damaged, but if Seneca was hurt, then the safest place might be for him to remain strapped in. She reluctantly ordered Chuck Badaxe to drag the _Archer_ behind his _Atlas._ "Talisman, take point. You have the map. See if you can find us a rest spot." She opened her radio to a broadbeam message. "Snowbirds, we have to move. Follow Talisman."

"Can't you see they're exhausted?" Peter Nicholas shot back—also broadbeam, so that the entire battalion heard it.

"I don't give a damn." Sheila moved forward. The Snowbirds followed. Marion Rhialla brought up the rear, almost as if her huge _Palladium_ was herding the rest. Only Felisanna's _Wolfhound_ remained motionless. "Feral Two. Move out."

"My mother's back there," Felisanna answered in a heavy voice.

Rhialla nearly answered, _And what do you care? You, who treated a poor dying woman like shit?_ Instead, she simply sighed. "Fine, Feral Two, stay here and get killed. I don't care anymore." She trudged past the _Wolfhound._ Felisanna, a moment later, turned her back on the door and followed.

* * *

They marched for an hour. The dust was thick enough to churn up a cloud around them, and Sheila was impressed by the sheer size of the tunnel. Mining 'Mechs were monsters, some of them weighing twice as much as Rhialla's 100-ton machine and so huge that it took three or four men to operate them. Even the smaller ones were as big as heavy 'Mechs. The tunnel was big enough for three 'Mechs to walk line abreast; even so, they would be deathtraps to fight in, with the only consolation being that the Wolves would be at an equal disadvantage.

According to Sheila's map, which all the Snowbird lance commanders had in their 'Mechs' navigation computers, the tunnel was twenty kilometers long. Branches had been built in multitudes from the main tunnel, though many were only man-sized or car-sized. The first one that 'Mechs could navigate was supposedly halfway, ten kilometers in, but they came up against a blank wall. "So much for that," Tessya sighed.

"Wait a second. Elfa, shine your searchlight on it." The tunnel was stygian dark, but the 'Mechs could easily navigate through infrared, and most had activated their running lights. Some 'Mechs carried huge, million-candlepower searchlights, like Elfa's _Loki._ Somehow her light had survived the battle. The searchlight revealed that the wall was differently colored than the rest of the tunnel walls, and it looked like it was made of several loose blocks of stone, rather than sheer granite. Sheila motioned them back, took aim, and opened fire with her PPCs. More than a few MechWarriors looked at the roof, wondering if Mount Brecon and its million tons of rock were going to collapse on them. Nothing happened, even as Elfa added her PPCs to the mix. After six shots, the wall sagged and collapsed inward, revealing another tunnel, about two 'Mechs wide. "Bingo," Sheila said with tired triumph.

"Why'd they brick it up?" Tessya asked.

"Who cares. It's a good spot to hole up in for awhile," Elfa answered. Sheila detailed Tessya to go last, and let Elfa lead the way. They only went a kilometer before the tunnel opened up into a huge cavern. Sheila was stunned at its size: Elfa's searchlight beam only barely revealed a ceiling. Nor was it entirely natural: the sides and ceiling had been smoothed by mining lasers. Along the far wall was a veritable forest of crates. Sheila zoomed in on one of them: it was marked with a dragon very similar to that of the Free Rasalhague Republic, but it was less stylized, and Sheila realized it was the markings of the old Tyr Regiment. Others had the red R of the Rasalhague Regulars and Kurita dragons; these were obviously stolen. Sheila checked her environmental sensors, which reported the air was clean. "Snowbirds, dismount, three sections out of four." That would leave one MechWarrior from each lance on duty. "We need to take stock and count heads. Lance commanders, assemble on me. Talisman, do you think you can handle security for a little while longer?"

"Affirn."

"I need Fred back with me, so I'll send Snowbird Two—" She abruptly remembered that Kaatha was no longer there. "I'll send Feral Three and Four to help. I'll have Charlie Medium relieve you in an hour. Stay out of sight and report to me instantly if you think you see or hear anything." She saw Tessya raise the _Wasp's_ arm in response, and the lance moved out. Sheila sent the Drakon twins and Nisa Kinosh's infantry with her, sighed, then opened the canopy. It stubbornly refused to raise the first few times, then finally broke free. When Sheila got out, she saw that armor had peeled back over the lip of the canopy. _I'll have to cut that off,_ she thought, grabbed a canteen of water from her locker, and climbed down the ladder. It was only when she reached the ground and nearly collapsed did Sheila realize how tired she was. Her real hand was shaking, while the artificial one twitched uncontrollably. She knew that was normal after the adrenalin surge of battle, but she still tried to control it anyway. The cavern was cool, but not uncomfortable, especially after the stifling heat of the cockpits during the fight.

Elfa, Senefa, Robert Copeland, Tooriu, Marion, Megan O'Reilly, and Peter Nicholas drifted over. All looked bedraggled. Sheila leaned against her _Shruiken's_ leg, seeing how even undamaged areas of her 'Mech showed peeled and blistered paint from near misses and just the heat of overstrained heat sinks. All the Snowbird 'Mechs looked the same, and many looked much worse. She watched silently as a few MechWarriors, led by Maysa Bari, went over to Tam Seneca's fallen _Archer_ to see if he was still alive.

The lance commanders gathered around her, most sitting on the dusty cavern floor. Sheila sat on her 'Mech's foot. "We're staying here for a few hours," she began.

"Is that wise?" Nicholas asked. "What if the Wolves find us?"

"I don't think they will. The tunnel that we came in from hadn't seen any use in a long time, and from the markings on those crates, I don't think that this cave has been opened in twenty years."

"What if you're wrong?" Nicholas persisted. "That other tunnel wasn't on your map either. We don't know how much the Wolves know!"

Sheila fought down her anger. "Then we'll fight it out here. That tunnel's narrow—only three 'Mechs wide. We could hold that with a lance for hours."

"Unless they just starve us out."

Marion turned on him. "So what's your plan, Nicholas? Surrender?"

"Of course not," Nicholas shot back, standing. "We should push through. The Wolves won't expect us to! Speed is the key."

"Peter," Sheila said patiently, "normally I'd agree. But we're all mixed up, and we're exhausted, and we need to rest and refit. The Wolves will go crazy looking for us in these tunnels."

"The southern force?"

"As far as they know, there is no southern force."

"What if you're wrong?" Nicholas repeated. "What are we supposed to refit with? You got a plan for that?"

Sheila got to her feet and walked up to Nicholas. She lowered her voice. "Listen to me, you jumped-up little shit. _I_ am in command here, _not_ you. And maybe if you used what God gave you for brains, you'd realize that those crates over there are the same kind 'Mech parts are shipped in. This is a supply cache, you stupid ass, which is why I came in here. If you don't like what I'm doing, get in your fucking 'Mech and get the fuck out of here. We don't need you. Got it?" Nicholas nodded dumbly, not used to seeing Sheila lose her temper. "Now sit your ass down and shut up unless you got something sensible to say." She stalked back to her 'Mech's foot. "Elfa, any idea of our losses—" Sheila stopped as she saw Cecilia Masterson walk over. "Can we help you?"

"Sorry to interrupt, Commander. I'll be quick." She looked at Senefa. "Miss Malthus, did you see Kassy? I don't see her _Commando._"

Senefa nodded. "I did, MechWarrior Masterson. I am sorry. I saw her go down in the initial Wolf attack from the side tunnel."

"Any chance?"

"No, I am afraid not. The 'Mech exploded—she charged a _Timber Wolf…_ah, I mean a _Mad Cat._ She was very brave and died a warrior."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Masterson snapped.

"No," Senefa replied calmly. "I am only stating a fact."

Masterson opened her mouth, but apparently realized that looking for a fight with Senefa was a losing prospect in any case. Instead, she just turned away, and walked off. They saw her go behind her _Zeus_ and lean against it, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Mimi Stykkis, who had been heading towards Seneca's 'Mech, changed direction and went over to Masterson, enfolding her in a hug. Sheila sighed. "What's the butcher's bill?" she asked no one in particular.

Elfa had a paper notepad in her hand. "I counted noses in the tunnel as best I could. We've lost four—Kaatha, Kassy Holliday, Eric Jerome, and Togan Nordkoping. Nisa lost three men—Willie Watson, Bob Crawford, and Amy Kuchiki."

"Any ejections from the 'Mechs? We know Kassy's gone."

"Togan's dead," Marion said. "I saw him take a head hit."

"I saw Eric go down up on the sides of the tunnel," Tooriu added. "Looked like an ammo explosion. He had the new CASE stuff, so maybe he's okay." He shrugged. "Maybe Kaatha punched out too."

"Kaatha didn't punch out." At Sheila's questioning expression, Marion looked away. "I just know, Sheila."

"And maybe Tam too." Sheila sighed again. Five 'Mechs and MechWarriors seemed like a small price to pay, considering the three companies of the Snowbirds had taken on two full Trinaries of Clan 'Mechs, and surely the historians would agree that the Snowbirds had gotten off easy, assuming the battle was remembered at all. One look at CeeCee Masterson showed that every loss would affect someone. Sheila knew it was only shock that kept her from breaking down over Kaatha. Not seeing her _Griffin_ parked faithfully near the _Shruiken_ was bad enough.

Sheila, however, had to set that aside. The loss of five 'Mechs, along with the detachment of Max's provisional lances to the tanks left her with over a full company short. To make matters worse, ammunition stocks had to be low. Her own _Shruiken_ was out of the Inferno stars, but that barely degraded her ability to fight, since all the rest of her weapons were energy-based. 'Mechs like the _Archers _and _Crusaders_ were "missile boats," and only had a handful of medium lasers to fall back on when the ammo bins ran dry. John Lawson's _Spartan_ only had one or two minor hits, but if his Arrow IV missile packs were exhausted, he was virtually defenseless. Sheila got to her feet and told them, "The important thing now is to crack open those crates. If they were sealed properly, there should be some missiles and autocannon ammo in them. Armor plates, too. We can't do any major maintenance, but we can at least make some patches. Once we do that, we can meet and plan our next move—though I do think we should continue as planned."

"Might as well. We can't go back now," Elfa said.

"Let's get to it then."

As they broke up, Marion came up to Sheila and asked for a moment. They walked towards Felisanna's _Wolfhound_. "Sheila…" Marion began quietly.

"I know. I was too hard on Peter."

Marion looked surprised. "No, that's not what I was going to say. Hell, I would've shot him."

Sheila shook her head. "He's just tired, Marion."

Marion thought about telling her that Nicholas' problem had nothing to do with exhaustion and everything to do with ambition, but decided against it. Instead, she used Sheila's words as an opening. "We're all tired, Sheila. We'll need to rest our people some—but you need it most of all."

"I'm fine."

"Bullshit. The only one I think is fresh right now is Senefa, and that's because she's bred for this crap. Sheila, get some sleep. We need some clear thinking right now, and you can't provide that in your condition."

"No one else is getting sleep."

"No one else is in command."

Sheila had to admit that made sense. "I'll think about it." They reached Felisanna, who sat disconsolately against the leg of her 'Mech. She looked up at Sheila with a face streaked with tears. "Mom's dead, isn't she?"

Sheila was about to say that there was no certainty of that; Clan Wolf was known for its proper treatment of prisoners. Marion interrupted. "Yes, Felisanna. She's gone."

"How can you be sure? She could've punched out. She might've had time," Felisanna pleaded.

Marion knelt down and looked intently at the younger woman. "Felisanna, your mom had terminal cancer." Felisanna's mouth fell open in shock, and Sheila's reaction was only slightly less surprised. "_What_?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah. I managed to worm it out of her back on the _Minerva_ before we hit Mozrije. She didn't want anyone to know. Pancreatic…inoperable. Kaatha would've been dead by next summer anyway. It's a slow way to die. She said that Doc Rabbit had told her that the best they could hope for was to give her a year or two at the most, and that was with chemo and a lot of drugs."

Felisanna began playing with a zipper on her cooling vest. "She wouldn't have done that. Not with that nutcase religion she and Dad belonged to." Suddenly, her face screwed up and she put her hands over her eyes. "Oh God…the things I said to her…the way I treated her…"

"She went out the way she wanted to," Marion told her. "That's the way _I_ want to go—standing up and fighting back. Not dying by inches on some hospital bed." She looked as if she wanted to say something more, then put a comforting hand on Felisanna's knee. Out of words, the old MechWarrior stood up and walked away, leaving Sheila alone with Felisanna.

Sheila bent down and put an arm around her. "Sheila…" Felisanna sniffled. "I'm such a damn fool. I get it now…Mom was just trying to tell me…it's not fair, goddammit!" Her voice rose to a scream. "Her and Dad both died like that! Saving other people! And me…I'm just a fucking loser. I'll always be a fucking loser." She glanced at the knife in her boot and pulled it out. "I'm going to hell. I deserve to go to hell. I should just get it over with, cut my useless throat—"

"Now that's enough," Sheila snarled, putting both arms on her shoulders. She shook Felisanna, hard. "Your mother died doing her best, Felisanna. She knew what had to be done and she did it, just like she always did. She was your mom, but she was my friend, and I lost her too." She leveled a steel finger at Felisanna's nose. "I need you, Felisanna. The Snowbirds need you. We're not out of this yet, and _I'll_ go to hell before I watch you throw your life away."

"But I'm a fuck up, Sheila!"

"No, you're not. You've been fighting like a damn tiger." Sheila snatched the knife from her hands. "You want to off yourself, fine, you can do that, but you're not doing it until we're off this godforsaken rockball. But in the meantime you've got a lance counting on you to do your job." She thrust the knife back into its sheath. "And after this is all over and we're back on the _Minerva_, maybe you'll learn from all this, as a woman does, and honor Kaatha's memory by getting your shit together. You can't change what happened with your mom, but by God, you can change what you do with your life." She pulled Felisanna to her feet. "Now get over there and help Bien slap some armor plates on his _Victor_. He's counting on you too, you know." She shoved the girl in that general direction, watched her stumble, almost totter, and then begin to jog towards the _Victor_ and its pilot.

"You got a C- in English at the 'Ring—when did you become so damn eloquent?"

Sheila turned around to see Mimi standing there. How she had gotten close on her crutches without being heard Sheila had no idea. "I'm tired, Mimi. I get eloquent when I'm tired."

"Or drunk. No, wait, then you just get horny."

Sheila began to walk away. "Not in the mood, Mimi."

The metal crutch tips clicked on the smooth cave floor. "Sorry," Mimi whispered.

"Forget it. How's CeeCee?"

"Pretty busted up, but she's tough. Her and Kassy were lovers, you know."

"I knew."

"They were afraid you'd kick them out for being lesbos, you being all staid and conservative and all." Seeing her attempts at humor were getting nowhere, Mimi gave up. "Tam's alive, by the way. He's out cold and might have a busted skull, but he's alive. Maysa told me that we're going to stick him into Fabian's _Catapult,_ if that's okay with you."

"Of course it's okay with me. Go tell Maysa."

Mimi knew when she was being dismissed, but she lingered for a moment longer. "Hey—I heard what you said to Nicholas. Acoustics are really weird in here. Good job with stepping on him, but…"

"_Mimi_…"

"Just answer me one question, Sheila." The other woman stopped and turned to Mimi. "Did you really plan on coming here to this cave?"

Sheila smiled wryly. "Educated guess. Go tell Maysa about Tam." This time Mimi obeyed, and Sheila continued on her way. She sat down next to the _Shruiken_, for some odd reason taking strength from the battered machine. She patted its leg affectionately. "Get you fixed up real soon, big guy." She leaned back against the armor and was surprised to find it warm. _Of course, heat's diffused through the 'Mech._ She closed her eyes for a moment. _Just give me a second…Max, I wish you were here…_

She fell asleep with her husband's face before her.

* * *

Snow fell on the southern road, but only enough to dust the concrete surface. The clouds hugged the mountain slopes and the deep valley below the Snowbirds, which Max was thankful for. It meant no air attacks.

So far, things were going rather well, Max thought. After a long stretch of mostly straight road, it had suddenly begun to climb, making several switchbacks and blind corners, any one of which would've been perfect for an ambush. Max had halted the column several times, sending out either his two OmniMechs or one of the Pegasus hovertanks to scout ahead. There had been nothing. Once they had gone over one ridge, the road had smoothed out and now hugged a narrow ridge, with a near-vertical wall of granite on their left and a near-vertical fall to their right. A frozen creek wound its way far below, surrounded by thick trees that would prove almost impossible for 'Mechs to negotiate. The rock to the left was also too steep. The road was narrow enough that it forced the vehicles into two abreast, staggered so that an artillery attack or strafing run would not take out an entire platoon. At the moment, Max feared Elemental infantry more than anything else—a well-led Star could halt them entirely—but so far, none had shown themselves. He did appreciate having Jacqueline Shaw's Hawkslayer air defense vehicle with them, though: set in the middle of the column, the radar wing atop the vehicle never stopped whirling, and the guns traversed slowly through 360 degrees. A fighter pilot would have to be very good and lucky to get through the cloudy pass, but it never hurt to be cautious.

The other thing to fear were avalanches. Occasionally, through skeins of cloud, Max could spot the massive avalanche gates, kilometer-long metal grates that would break up a sudden slide, and occasional wedge-shaped ravelins of concrete, which would split avalanches into smaller, more survivable slides. This did not keep little slides from happening as the 'Mechs marched past, but there were no giant avalanches that could bury a tank, or worse, the supersonic pressure waves avalanches pushed before them, that could pick up even a BattleMech and smash it into trees or the sheer wall of the other side of the valley. Because of the gates and the fact that Max hoped the Wolves might not have noticed the southern force yet, he forbid the artillerists in the two Sniper self-propelled guns not to fire behind them and purposely create avalanches as planned. They seemed disappointed; Sergeant Dinson had only half-jokingly said that he had really wanted to see one.

Despite the delays and the fact that the column could only go as fast as the slowest vehicle—which happened to be the ponderous Ontoses and the mammoth Von Luckner—Max was on schedule. He checked the chronometer on his instrument panel and wished for the hundredth time he could call Sheila and see how she was doing, but of course he wouldn't have done that even if it was possible. He kept use of the radio to a minimum. The tanks were moving slow enough that David Moore was using hand signals to manuever his vehicles, which he only did to negotiate hard turns or to rotate the point machines, usually his or John Williams' Pegasus. Max had split his lances, putting the two Omnis, Burke's _Grasshopper_, and Griffin's _Panther_ in front of the tanks, while his lance—including his own _Battlemaster,_ Polycutt's _Dervish,_ Philip Scott's _Valkyrie,_ and Drax's _Phoenix Hawk_—brought up the rear.

A red light lit up on his instrument panel, indicating an incoming radio message, and for a wild moment Max thought it might be Sheila. He keyed the mike. "Sasquatch Actual."

"Hey, 'Squatch. This is Wrench Actual." Max smiled at that. Nicia Caii had no formal callsign, but Wrench seemed a good one for her. "Just calling to make sure you're still awake." He looked down and forward and saw Nicia's unmistakable tall figure standing up in the top hatch of one of the Lynx hover APCs. Since the infantry were with Sheila, the techs were riding more or less comfortably in the Lynxes.

"I'm still here, Wrench. How're you holding up?"

"Trying to avoid a concussion." Max laughed at that; her nearly seven foot height would be about six inches too high for the Lynx's interior. "How much further? These tank guys think we techs can't be trusted with maps."

"About another four hours to the tunnel, then probably another hour after that." What would happen then was anyone's guess.

"Think we could take a break? I need to pee."

Max nearly told her to just go off the tank—he had already seen one of Natasha Tal's crew relieving himself off the back of the Sturmfeur—but then rolled his eyes at himself for not realizing that it would be a little tough for a woman to do that, even if she was so inclined. "Roger that." He switched frequencies. "Claw Actual, this is Sasquatch. Let's take twenty."

"Roger that, Sasquatch."

"Thank the Laird God," came Fianna Cassidy's voice. "I'm full neigh t'berstin'!"

"Cut the chatter, Bunny Actual. Herringbone and maintain radio listening silence. Claw out." Moore was a friendly man, but he knew how to maintain discipline. The column slowed to a halt, each tank turning alternately left and right, like the bones of a herring fish. This left a narrow path between them, just in case the 'Mechs had to get forward in a hurry, and made it harder on any prospective strafer. Max raised one of his _Battlemaster's_ arms, and his 'Mechs came to a halt as well. The engine noise and rhythmic stomping of the 'Mechs quieted. Max cracked the canopy a little, letting fresh, clean-smelling air into the cockpit, and chuckled when he saw a mass exodus of female tankers and techs to a copse of trees on the side of the road. Except for the fact that they might get attacked at any moment, this was just like training marches, and almost even enjoyable. He hoped Sheila was just as bored.

* * *

Sheila felt a hand gently shake her shoulder. She yawned, blinked, and took a moment to realize where she was. "I fell asleep," she said, then felt like an idiot for stating the obvious.

"Yep." Elfa Brownoak stood over her.

Sheila looked down and saw that someone had covered her with a blanket and put a pillow behind her head. "Shit. How long have I been out?"

"Three hours, thereabouts."

"What? Dammit, Elfa, why did you let me sleep so long?"

"You needed it."

Sheila got to her feet, brushing the dust off her bare legs. "I'm the commander, dammit, I shouldn't be asleep."

"Nonsense. You needed it more than any of us."

"_You're_ awake, and you're needing to sleep for two."

Her stomach growled audibly and Elfa winced. "I'm also eating for two, too. I'm out of rations." Each 'Mech had loaded up a small dinner of self-heating meals, which while not exactly the most appetizing, filled one up. There were also emergency rations, and whatever snacks a MechWarrior might bring.

"I think I've got something." Sheila climbed up to her cockpit, noticing that the armor had been cut back and new, shiny plates welded on._ Wow, I must've been really zonked to sleep through that._ She rummaged through the cockpit's tiny locker and came up with a can of something. Returning to Elfa, she handed her the can. "Here."

"Bless you. That pig Tooriu's already eaten all his food." Elfa pulled a ring on the can, which activated a small heating element, and by the time she got the top off, it was already pleasantly warm. It was also ham and lima beans, which the majority of the Snowbirds would rather throw out than eat. Elfa pulled a plastic fork from a pocket on her shorts and began happily munching away.

Sheila tried not to be sick. "I thought you hated lima beans."

"I do. The kid likes it, though." Elfa rolled her eyes. "The other night after we cleared the Kumla Gap, I had this sudden craving for carrots and chocolate. At the same time. I think this baby's going to be one screwed up child." She looked up from the can. "Here comes Fred. He must've found something on that old computer." At Sheila's look of confusion, she shrugged. "We found an old workstation behind the last row of crates. It was in a crate itself, like it was being hid. Fred plugged in one of our portable generators and actually got the damn thing to work."

Frederick Matria was breathless when he reached them, but it wasn't entirely from running. "Commander, Major…you have got to see this. Especially you, Commander."

"Okay." Sheila's back was stiff from sitting against an armored leg, so she could use the exercise. Elfa declined, taking up Sheila's pillow and former position, continuing to devour the can. "What do you got, Fred?"

"I'm not going to spoil the surprise. Follow me." Matria set a fast pace, as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. Sheila followed as instructed. As she did so, she looked around. Easily half the crates had been opened, and she was glad to see her hunch had been right: the Rasalhagians had used Mount Brecon's caverns as a supply cache. Now it was being put to good use. While only a few MechWarriors like Maysa were also techs, every MechWarrior was trained to do basic repairs on his or her 'Mech. Marion had made sure to give them refresher courses on Sudeten. While they could not do major repairs, even if they had the tools to do it, they could replace armor plates, reload weapons, and restring myomers. The repair jobs were slapdash and Nicia Caii would weep to see them, but they were functional. The Rasalhagians had even been kind enough to leave forklifts and portable mini-cranes to reload missiles and autocannon shells, though there were only a few of them; Sheila saw Tooriu and Troms Fiordur manhandling a SRM round to Copeland's _Crusader_, reloading the 'Mech laboriously by hand. Marion saw Sheila and waved. "Hey, Sheila! You'll never guess what we found!" She stepped aside, revealing an open crate full of gleaming Gauss Rifle shells. "How's that for a slice of fried gold!"

"That's pretty neat," Sheila agreed, though she was wondering where the Rasalhagians found Gauss shells. The crates presumably had been stored since before the Fourth Succession War, before the technology to build Gauss Rifles had been rediscovered.

Matria led her into a virtual cavern within a cavern, this one made of crates. The Rasalhagians had stockpiled enough here to outfit several battalions, and had evidently been doing so for some time: the dust caked on these crates, set up against the cavern wall, was inches thick. She coughed and sneezed as her feet kicked up more dust, but at last they were at Matria's workstation. This crate had a door in the middle, making it more like a trailer than the huge boxes the others were. She followed him inside: it was dark, but lit by two flashlights and the computer screen. It was definitely old, but looked unremarkable to Sheila. "That's great, Fred. What am I supposed to be impressed by?"

Matria looked offended. "Sheila, don't you know what this is?"

"I have no idea."

"This is an Apple-Churchill Mac Mark 275." He spoke as if to a dimwitted child.

"So?"

"Sheila—" Matria momentarily forgot her rank "—this hasn't been made since the Star League. It's over 300 years old. I doubt there's more than a dozen of these in the Inner Sphere!"

"Uh, okay." Sheila still felt about half-asleep, and her brain wasn't quite running at full speed yet. "It's a museum piece."

"More than that," Matria said excitedly. "The hard drive is still intact! It's like the owner just packed it away and left yesterday! Here, sit down. I'll show you something that will blow your mind!"

Sheila doubted it, but she sat. On the screen was glowing text and the multi-faceted Cameron Star, the symbol of the Star League, the same daggerstar that the Clans used to denote rank. While the historian in her was mildly interested, she was not the type to be fascinated by minutiae. Other historians could pore over daily dispatches from Periphery garrisons from June 2766 in amazement for hours, but that bored Sheila, who wanted to read about battles and heroes. It looked like standard bureaucratese to her. Matria caught the look on her face. "Scan down to the last paragraph."

Sheila did so and stopped cold. "Holy shit," she breathed.

Matria grinned. "Told you."

"Did you tell Senefa?"

"Not yet. As soon as I found this, I came to find you."

"Go get her."

Matria ran out the door. He was back in five minutes, half-dragging Senefa behind him. To Sheila's surprise, Senefa actually looked tired, her face and hands smudged with soot, grease, and dirt from welding new patches of armor on her _Thunderbolt._ Sheila motioned her over, slid the chair aside, and just pointed at the screen. Confused, Senefa looked. She jumped a little, then read in rapt fascination. When she was done, Senefa slipped and collapsed to the floor in amazement. She looked up at Sheila, her eyes actually shining with tears. "Holy shit," said the Clanswoman who never cursed.

* * *

"You're kidding me," Marion said, looking filthier than Senefa but actually chipper. "We're in a fucking Castle Brian?"

"An unfinished one," Sheila corrected. "The Star League took over the old copper mine and began developing it. They never had a chance to finish it before Stefan Amaris took over Terra. According to the records, work was halted and it was turned into a cache for the 146th Royal BattleMech Division—the George S. Patton Division. Only a few things were stored here before the Star League fell and the SLDF was disbanded. Somewhere along the way, I guess, people just forgot it was here, or they kept it quiet. The Tyr and the Kungsarme probably never realized they were sitting on top of a Star League cache."

"Finding a Star League cache in the middle of a fight." Marion shook her head and laughed. "Man alive, I thought this sort of thing only happened to the Gray Death Legion." She grinned over at Senefa. "She's as happy as a used hovercar salesman who's just been told price doesn't matter." Sheila smiled as well. The Clans considered themselves heirs to the Star League, even the moderate Wardens, and the founder of the Clans—the legendary last commander of the SLDF, Alexsandr Kerensky—was almost seen as a demigod. Anything associated with the Star League were seen as basically holy relics, in contrast to the Inner Sphere, which tended to see Star League sites as buried treasure. Finding an intact Star League cache, like the Gray Death Legion had, could set one for life: even the most miserly House would pay through the nose for it. "I don't see any Star League 'Mechs sitting around, though."

"We're not that lucky. Most of what's here we can't use, like twenty tons of computer paper. Though those Gauss shells you found might've been part of it."

"Great," Marion grumped. "Other units find abandoned 'Mech storage sites and computer cores. _We_ find some clerk's hideaway. Who was the idiot who thought of that?"

Sheila's smile widened to a grin. "Colonel Karelia Bighorn-Vlata."

Marion blinked. "Say again?"

"Karelia Bighorn-Vlata."

"Relative of yours?"

"My grandmother, with twelve greats tacked on the front. The first of the Vlata MechWarriors. She had a regiment of the 146th Royals; got killed at Snoqualmie Pass during the final assault on the Star League capital city. Her son Michael threw in with House Davion rather than go with Alexsandr Kerensky…and we've been around since."

"Causing trouble." Marion looked around. "How about that? Finding a Star League cache literally with your name on it."

"Pure coincidence."

"Kind of a high ranking person to be shuttling around office supplies."  
"That may have been cover. Seems my ancestor was storing something else here."

"Like what?" Marion rolled her eyes. "Let me guess. Ancient alien artifacts? The Ark of the Covenant?"

"I wish," Sheila said dryly. "Chemical weapons."


	6. Desperate Measures

_AUTHOR'S NOTES: Chapter 6. I had to break up the big battle into two parts…plus I like cliffhangers. I apologize if some of the writing here is too much like a history book, but I had to set the scene somehow. (The part about the mortar shells may seem like I swiped it from _Saving Private Ryan,_ but since Spielberg swiped that from actual events on Guadalcanal, I figure I'm on safe ground.)_

_REVIEWER'S CORNER:_

_SulliMike: We'll see (in this chapter). (I was surprised at how many reviewers were saying, "Chemical weapons? DON'T DO IT, SHEILA!")_

_FraserMage: The odds are about 10,000 to 1, which is why this is noncanon fanfiction. Still, the Snowbirds certainly didn't find a cache full of 'Mechs (like Snord) or a computer core (like the Gray Death Legion)._

_Mosin: Thanks. Again, we'll see. _

_Kat: That does explain it. And for some reason FF .net wasn't sending out updates, probably because my stories were rated M. The tie-in to Sheila's history was kind of a throwaway thing; I really don't get to do much with explaining her "pedigree."_

_Rouge: Hey, Apple's around in the "modern" CBT universe too. They own the planet Macintosh. Makes you wonder what happened to Microsoft._

_Panzerfaust: I'm guessing you meant Twilight 2000—that was the first RPG I ever bought. But actually, the inspriation for this story came from Elfquest, if you can believe it._

_MUSIC CORNER: "The Fields of the Pelennor" from _Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers; _"VMI Will Be Heard From Today" from _Gods and Generals, _and "Bugs!" from _Starship Troopers.

* * *

Erik Kerensky stamped his feet. It was just cold enough to be bothersome. He, Star Captain Tobi, and Ghita Ward stood near his battered _Man O'War._

They had won the race to Fraser Flats. Kerensky had consulted the old maps of the New Caledonia Castle Brian that he had brought with him; every Clan Cluster had access to a carefully-preserved, nearly 400-year old database of known Star League sites in their invasion corridor. John Ward had known of the Castle Brian as well, but neither he nor Kerensky had known that the Snowbirds somehow had discovered it as well. They had also discovered that the map was incomplete, or that the Raslhagians had expanded on the facility. Either way, Kerensky had deduced that the Snowbirds were still inside Mount Brecon—and he knew where they would come out at. A few well-placed blasts from his Cluster had bored through the loose tailings and fill and found the connecting tunnels.

Kerensky noted the look of worry on his second-in-command's face. "Misgivings, Star Captain Tobi?"

"A few, sir."

"What are they?" Kerensky snapped.

"Are we sure that the Snowbirds will come out here?"

"There is no other way they can come out, quiaff? You saw the maps."

Tobi knew it would do his career no good, but he plunged on anyway. "Aff, Star Colonel, but we know the maps are incomplete. I am only concerned because we have not seen them yet, sir."

"They will be here," Kerensky assured Tobi, regretting his earlier show of anger. Tobi was a good, reliable man, who would be up for a Bloodname soon. If he had concerns, they were likely legitimate. Still, there was only two exits to Mount Brecon, and he was sure this one was the correct one.

Tobi had other concerns he did not share with Kerensky. The 352nd Assault Cluster was simply spread too thin, and it was confusingly disorganized. Erik Kerensky's own Trinary Command, understrength by four 'Mechs already, had been further weakened by their commander organizing a provisional Charlie Command Star of two _Fenrises_ and three _Man O'Wars_, under command of Star Commander Hannifan and drawn from each of the three Stars of the Trinary. He had stationed these half a kilometer inside the tunnel entrance to serve basically as a tripwire, to give early warning of the Snowbirds' approach. This was sound tactical thinking, but it also put MechWarriors together who were unused to fighting together.

His own Trinary Assault, the most powerful part of the 352nd, had also been changed around. Ghita Ward had intelligence that the Snowbirds were using heavy tanks, and past experience had showed the Wolves that Inner Sphere tanks could be deadly in the hands of competent commanders. Moreover, the Wolves were aware from the battles on Mozrije and Kirchbach that the Snowbirds had at least one _Battlemaster_ assault 'Mech. It had not been seen in the pit, and the numbers that the Snowbirds were known to have didn't add up. Kerensky decided that the force on the southern road probably had 'Mechs as well, and so had detached Charlie Assault Star to join Star Commander Willic Vickers' two 'Mech Stars, which were admittedly light, and his understrength Elemental infantry support. After all, Kerensky had said, it made no sense to simply send more light and medium 'Mechs to be slaughtered. To compensate, he had taken away Charlie Striker Star and assigned it to Trinary Assault.

What was left of Trinary Battle had been assigned to the other mine entrance, in case the Snowbirds wandered out that way. A scratch force of the surviving 'Mechs of the pit fight weren't in much condition for further combat, but again they would serve mainly as a tripwire force.

Tobi knew Erik Kerensky was no novice. They had fought the Inner Sphere before, and done exceptionally well. What worried him was the idea that Kerensky might be underestimating his opponent simply because Sheila Arla-Vlata was a freebirth. The Snowbirds had so far shown themselves to be exceptionally tenacious foes, and Tobi wondered if the 352nd would be better served by concentrating the entire force at the mine exit, ignoring the Snowbirds' southern force entirely and gambling that they would not find another way out. The Snowbirds were estimated at having about 30 'Mechs; opposing them at the mine entrance were only 26 Wolves. Kerensky had assured Tobi that the Snowbirds were likely resting up inside Mount Brecon for the final push, but their 'Mechs would be damaged and probably low on ammunition. Tobi hadn't felt like mentioning that most of Trinary Command was shot up from the pit fight as well—there had been no time to rest and refit in the run from the pit to Fraser Flats--and even if his own Trinary Assault and Charlie Striker Star were undamaged, none of the 352nd's warriors were exactly rested. Most had been marching and counter-marching all day in bad terrain, which took a toll on MechWarriors as well as 'Mechs.

Ghita Ward's hand suddenly went to the comlink stuck in his right ear. "Star Colonel, Bravo Striker Star reports enemy contact."

"Strength?" Kerensky instantly snapped.

Ward paused for a moment, then continued. "One company of tanks and two lances of 'Mechs. They're one kilometer from the tunnel. He says he is in good position and would like to attack."

Kerensky rolled his eyes in exasperation. Willic Vickers was good, but he had never commanded a Trinary in combat before; he was too used to taking orders from Kenbarg Radick and not giving them himself. With Kenbarg, Kerensky knew he wouldn't need to give permission. "Tell him to proceed. Alert Star Captain Zora Vickers to support him if necessary."

Ward gave the orders, but almost as soon as he had relaxed against the foot of his giant _Gladiator_, he bolted upright again. "Contact report from Star Commander Hannifan! Enemy 'Mechs reported to his front."

"Tell him to pull back." Hannifan's five 'Mechs would be murdered in the confined spaces of the tunnels; Clan Wolf was rapidly learning that the 80-ton _Man O'War_ was undergunned and underarmored for its size. "Gentlemen, to your 'Mechs." He exchanged salutes with Tobi, and climbed aboard his own _Man O'War._ His foot slipped and he nearly fell before he remembered the long tear in his side armor that the _Griffin_ had left; it had carried away one of the normal footholds set into the side of his machine. He cursed himself for his carelessness and climbed into the cockpit, rapidly bringing the 'Mech to life and made a quick, last check on the dispositions of his forces. He had assembled Trinary Assault's fifteen 'Mechs in a single defense line. His own Alpha Command Star's six 'Mechs were drawn up behind Trinary Assault as a reserve force, allowing him to direct the battle; Kerensky felt he had made a mistake earlier by getting too involved, depriving him of the overall picture.

Hannifan's five 'Mechs would, once they left the tunnel, would take up position on the southern flank of Trinary Assault: Kerensky assumed that, once Arla-Vlata saw a solid wall of Clan heavy and assault Omnis in front of her, she would turn south, to try to reach the rest of the Snowbirds, or turn north and try to flank Trinary Assault. If she did the former, Hannifan could trap her in a murderous box; if she did the latter, Hannifan could attack into the Snowbird rear. Kerensky could deploy his own Star either north or south to reinforce the flanks, if necessary. He didn't think it would be: the Snowbirds could only exit the tunnel three 'Mechs at a time, and each succeeding wave of three would be gunned down by the combined fire of Trinary Assault before they could deploy into battle formation and make room for the next wave. He was familiar with the naval term of "crossing the T," and had essentially done that to Arla-Vlata.

"Warriors of the Silver Wolves," Kerensky addressed his people, as the first of Hannifan's 'Mechs came out of the tunnel. "Remember that you are Clan: you were born for this! You are stronger and better than these Inner Sphere freebirths, these mercenary hireswords! Remember what the Snowbirds did to your brothers and sisters in the mine pit! They surprised us once—this time, there will be no surprises. When they come out of the tunnel, kill them all. No mercy! No prisoners!"

The 352nd stomped their 'Mechs' feet as one. The last of Hannifan's Star cleared the tunnel exit. Kerensky tightened his fingers on his control sticks and waited for the slaughter to begin.

* * *

The first warning Max got of the ambush was when John Williams' Pegasus hovertank exploded. In the next second, the entrance to the pass tunnel and the hills around them erupted in laser, autocannon, and Gauss fire. "Mother of God!" Max heard David Moore scream. "Ambush front! Ambush front! Form line, Delta Company!" There was nowhere to form line at. Delta Company was strung out in march formation, but the tank commanders tried nonetheless. Almost simutaneously, Shasti Buena sang out, "Elementals, right flank!"

Max banged his instrument panel in frustration as he saw the camouflaged Elemental battlesuits come out of the woods below the road: the steep slope would never support a 'Mech, but it would easily hide Elementals. The Wolf commander had cannily let the head of Delta Company pass before attacking, and now struck the column broadside. The Elementals were in among the tanks almost as soon as the ambush began, and instantly began hammering at hatches and firing at point-blank range. There was nowhere for the tanks to run, and no time to organize a defense: each tank became a pillbox as the crews fought for their lives.

Max knew he had to get control back, fast. "All Delta elements, herringbone now! Claw Actual, get the hell out of there!" Moore didn't reply, but the little Pegasus made a sharp left turn and accelerated up the snowy slope, Moore's driver fishtailing the hovertank left and right to avoid the fire. Williams' tank was a burning wreck at the front of the tunnel. From the tunnel surged a Star of 'Mechs, but rather than continue down the line, they turned to the north, either chasing Moore or, more likely, flanking the column again to cut off escape to that direction.

Max hit his radio button. "Follow me!" he shouted.

The snowcovered slope to his north had leveled out somewhat, enough for 'Mechs to move a little better. Max ran the _Battlemaster_ up to full speed and ran, feeling the thumps of missiles exploding against his armor: the Omnis already had him in range. Luckily, they seemed to be light and smaller medium 'Mechs, though he saw a _Man O'War_ among them, and the fire slackened somewhat as the first return fire came from Polycutt's _Dervish_ and Scott's _Valkyrie; _out of the corner of one eye, he saw Marcus Drax working his way onto the flank of the Star with his _Phoenix Hawk_, and a _Fenris_ began to engage him. Ahead of him, both Griffin's _Panther_ and Burke's _Grasshopper_ landed in a cloud of vaporized snow and began to engage the Clan 'Mechs surging from the tunnel. Out of the smoke landed a _Dragonfly_: Max turned instinctively to engage, then saw the Snowbird camoflage a second before he fired on it. Larry Stohr waited a second then leapt again, this time ending up squarely behind a _Puma_. A _Man O'War_ was coming around one side, and Max fired a PPC bolt at him, landing a solid hit on the blocky 'Mech's stomach. The Clansman rocked, saw Max, and turned to take him on. Max saw that the Wolf Omnis, now confronted with 'Mechs, completely ignored the tanks for more worthy targets, which was what he had hoped they would do. He also noticed that, instead of the normal five 'Mech star, this one was overstrength, with seven.

* * *

Moore dashed past the 'Mechs, knowing that getting between those two was suicide. He cursed hard and long, peering through the vision blocks around his commander's hatch: Elementals had easily torn through the thin-skinned Sniper self-propelled artillery vehicle of Jackson Dinson and were now firing machineguns through the open hatches; another explosion signalled the loss of yet another of his vehicles. Apparently finished massacring Dinson's artillerists, the Elementals now surged towards the next vehicle in line. That proved to be a mistake: the next tank was Fianna Cassidy's Ontos, and it cut loose with its battery of eight medium lasers. Three Elementals went down and the other two jumped back under cover, but then another five burst from the woods and clambered aboard Cassidy's tank before she could traverse the turret.

"Claw Three, are you still alive?" Moore radioed.

"Still here, Claw Actual." Jacqueline Shaw sounded unbelievably calm. Her autocannons were barking at the treeline, trying to hit shadows that moved there.

"Load cluster and fire on Bunny Actual, fast!"

Shaw instantly saw what Moore had in mind. Her Hawkslayer air defense vehicle was equipped with two of the new LB-10X autocannons, which could be loaded to fire either standard shells or cluster rounds, which broke apart a pre-set distance from the muzzle into a cloud of small metal balls, which would be lethal to low-flying aircraft. With a flip of the switch, the twin hoppers that fed the guns switched to cluster rounds; Shaw traversed the turret forward and her gunner opened fire, praying Shaw knew what she was doing. The cluster rounds exploded less than a foot from the Ontos, sending a spray of shot across the tank. The Ontos' armor was strong enough to withstand the hits, but the Elementals, taken by surprise, were knocked off the tank. One was stunned and rolled forward off the turret, bounced off the front hull, and landed face up on the road. Cassidy snarled, "Run o'er the bastard!" Her driver stomped on the gas, and the 95-ton tank surged forward. Over the din of battle no one could hear the screams of the Elemental as it was crushed beneath the tank's tracks.

The immediate problem over, Moore turned to a plan he had thought of in thirty desperate seconds. "Bunny Actual, Bunny Two, Buena Two: launch full spread of LRMs forward!" Natasha Tal and her Sturmfeur—Buena Two--mounted two huge LRM-20 launchers, while the two Ontoses had lighter secondary batteries of LRM-5s.

"Claw Actual, say again, that's on our own—" Tal began.

"Fire, dammit!"

A cloud of sixty missiles rose through the air and impacted the length of the column. Moore wiped sudden tears from his face, knowing he had just called in a missile strike on his own people. He wondered if anyone was left alive in the 300 meter stretch between Cassidy's Ontos and the front of the tunnel.

* * *

"_Down!"_ Star Captain Marijoan Shaw screamed at her Elementals. Most instantly dropped where they were, rolling over on their fronts to protect the one thin spot on the toadlike battlearmor, its V-shaped viewslit. Shaw took cover behind the Manticore she had knocked out, and felt one missile detonate against her armor with a bang that slammed her painfully against the tank. Though she was snug inside the armor, its interior heavily padded, her leg still felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to it. She picked herself up off the ground, looking around for the other fifteen troops she had led into battle. One suit was down, badly holed and smoking, but the others seemed to be all right. A blue PPC bolt shot out from the Manticore and killed another of her Elementals, letting Shaw know the tank crew was still alive, even with their engine shot out and the tracks blown off the vehicle. "Ratha!" she shouted.

"Ma'am!"

"Set up a defense line, here! The Snowbirds are getting ready to counterattack!" She switched frequencies. "Hemsl, are you engaged?"

"Negative, Star Commander; we are still in the woods."

"Why haven't you engaged?" she demanded.

"Because there is a freebirth SRM carrier to my direct front that hits me with about a sixty missiles every time I show myself, that is why! There is—was—some sort of air defense vehicle to my left front that fires at me as well, and some fool keeps lobbing artillery shells in on us!"

Shaw bit back a nasty retort. Hemsl Shaw was her second in command and an experienced veteran; he had just had the bad luck to hit the strongest part of the tank column. "Get back under cover and flank to the west. They are getting ready to counterattack. I will cover you."

"Understood, Star Commander!"

Shaw ducked under the barrel of the Manticore's PPC as it traversed and climbed atop the tank. Her last two rounds of missile ammunition and a blast from her laser knocked out the LRM-10 rack atop the vehicle. With her claw, she began tearing at the armor atop the hatches, occasionally looking up to see Ratha efficiently deploying the Elementals to stop the Snowbird counterattack. She directed them to open fire on the squat SRM carrier even as she tore the hatch free, jamming her left arm through the hatch; underneath the claw was slung a machinegun. An older man raised his hands. Shaw bent closer so her voice could be heard through the microphones in her suit. "Abandon your tank and head into the woods, and I will not kill you. Hurry—I do not know if your comrades will fire on us again."

"I hear you," the man said, and the crew began to climb out of the vehicle. Shaw ordered her people to hold their fire as the tank crew scrambled for the woods. Ratha turned towards her, but Shaw shook her claw at him, the Elemental's signal for hold fire. _Orders be damned,_ Marijoan thought, _I am not killing brave men that I do not have to._

"Enemy, left front!" yelled one of her Elementals. Shaw took a deep breath, sipped a little water from the straw against her lips, and headed back into the fight. A _Puma_ suddenly tumbled to a halt near her, burning and smoking from countless holes, and she wondered where the assaults and heavies Erik Kerensky had promised were.

* * *

Almost forgotten at the tail of the column were the two Lynx hover APCs and William Griffon's Sniper. The latter had been firing at the treeline, but the artillery shells were not designed to be used against infantry, and most exploded harmlessly in the treetops. Still, Griffon felt like he was at least being somewhat useful.

Nicia Caii, on the other hand, felt completely useless. She was standing in the gunner's hatch, next to the tank commander, Archibald Backs. He pulled on his long beard out of nervous habit, staring through binoculars, then handed them to Nicia. "All right. Looks like Moore's got this thing under control." That was a lie, but he felt he needed to calm the fears of the woman next to him, who after all was a tech and wasn't used to combat. Both ducked as a missile sailed over their heads to explode in the woods; it was a stray round from the 'Mech's engaging to the left. "He'll roll 'em up now. Damn, I wish we could go in too." That part wasn't just for morale building. If anything, Backs felt more useless than Nicia, since he actually had something to fight with: just behind him was the Lynx's triple medium laser snouts. Moore had ordered him to stay behind to guard Griffon and the techs; if the battle was lost, he was to run and at least save the invaluable techs.

"Wait a second." Nicia's hand shot out, pointing towards the treeline. "There's something moving in there."

He snatched back the binoculars. "Son of a _bitch!_ Those Wolf mothers are about to flank us." He dropped the binoculars back to the floor of the tank. "Master Tech, tell your people to dismount, and hurry. I've got to stop them."

Nicia swallowed nervously. The Lynxes were battle taxis, meant to take infantry in, drop them off, and hightail it back to a safer area. They were not armored very well, and the lasers were meant only for self-defense. Elementals would quite literally tear the Lynxes to pieces. Still, there was no other option. She ducked her head down and found herself nose-to-nose with Jeremy Bourque, the next most senior tech. "Jeremy, we gotta abandon the Lynxes. He's got to attack some Elementals."

"In this tin can? He won't last five seconds!"

Nicia thought that was great for the Lynx's crew to hear that, but continued. "We don't have any choice—"

"Like hell we don't!" Bourque turned and opened one of the weapon lockers, where the infantry stored their small arms. They were still mostly full, as the infantry had only taken their rifles and grenades with them, unable to take much since they were also burdened with jump packs and had to ride atop the 'Mechs. He reached down and pulled out one end of a SRM launcher. "This thing's loaded with Inferno rounds. We can fight!"

Nicia understood and rose back up. "Sergeant Backs, take us in and deploy us like infantry!"

"What are you, crazy?" Backs' eyes were huge. "You guys are techs! We can't lose you—whose gonna repair our stuff--"

"We're _Sentinels_, idiot!" Nicia retorted. "If you lose this fight, there won't be anything to repair!"

Backs muttered something about losing his stripes, but pounded on the driver's hatch. The two Lynxes inflated their hoverskirts and headed towards the treeline. Just before they got there, they swerved to a halt and turned, keeping the tank between the techs and the Elementals, who gave no sign they even noticed. The side hatches snapped open, and the techs ran out, lugging rifles, grenades, and SRM launchers. Backs pointed to the narrow ditch beside the road, and the techs found some cover. Nicia crossed herself and raised a rifle. Backs kept a hand raised, and when he let it drop, she shouted to open fire.

The Elementals were taken by surprise. They had seen the two APCs and people moving in the woods, but ignored them: they had fought plenty of unarmored infantry before, and found them poor opponents; the main threat was the tanks. The rifle fire plinked harmlessly against their armor suits, but when two of the Elementals turned into torches, screaming as the Inferno fluid poured in through filters and any holes in the armor to fry the person inside, Hemsl Shaw could no longer ignore them. He turned half his force to the left, cursing, because he knew it was taking the impetus from his attack.

Techs were nothing if inventive. Even as Inferno rounds sailed through the forest and turned trees and Elementals into bonfires, some hurled grenades hastily tied together. Alone, the grenades could do little to the thickly-armored battlesuits, but five or six wired into a bundle could take a leg or an arm off. The infantrymen had packed two 60-millimeter mortars, but had not taken them with them: the baseplate and tube were heavy, awkward, and nearly impossible to jump with. The techs didn't have the time or training to set one up, but they had the shells, and found that the boulders that the New Caledonia Highway Commission had helpfully lined the road with for decoration made excellent ersatz baseplates—and that the mortars made superb ersatz grenades, once they were armed by striking the arming pins at the bottom of the shells. One Elemental jumped to land behind the techs' firing line, only to be hit by two medium lasers fired from the Lynxes. The Clansman tumbled to the ground and landed nearly on top of Nicia. As the Elemental struggled weakly to get to its feet, the armor dented, burned, and smoking, Nicia tossed aside her rifle, pulled out her power wrenches from her coveralls, and went to work on the armor. Two others joined her. In seconds the armored cowl was pulled off and the Elemental knocked senseless by assorted tools and rifle butts.

Hemsl, wondering what sort of insanity he had walked into, gathered three of his Elementals and led them out onto the road. They found themselves staring into the muzzle of the 105 millimeter gun of Griffon's Sniper, and Hemsl ducked as it belched fire. The shell didn't hit any of the Elementals, but the passage of the shell sent them tumbling back into the forest. Griffon's artillerists loaded another shell and now began using the artillery piece in direct fire, adding yet another deafening bit to the mad fight.

* * *

"That's the style!" Glynnis Griffin crowed as a _Fenris_ crashed to the snow. Max cheered as well, even as the _Man O'War_ staggered back from the pounding he had given it with his array of medium lasers. The Clan commander had deployed into line and evidently had been expecting easier pickings; no sooner had he straightened out his 'Mechs to meet Max's hasty attack than Stohr had leapt behind his line with his nimble _Dragonfly._ Next his right flank raked by an even worse threat: Mike Vragel's _Ryoken_, with a heavy array of lasers and plenty of heat sinks to keep firing them. Vragel had cannily taken cover in the smoke and held his fire, waiting for an opportunity, stalking the flank _Puma_ carefully. Neither the Wolf 'Mechs nor the Elementals had fired on him, seeing the familiar silhouette and assuming it was friendly, and Vragel had fired at pointblank range. With enemies front and rear now, the Wolf commander was obviously getting nervous, and from what Max could hear in snippets from Moore's frequency, the Elemental attack had bogged down as well. He noticed Vragel limping to get a better shot at a _Black Hawk_, which had already shot him up once. "Glynnis, back up Mike," Max told Griffin. "See if you can flank that damn _Black Hawk._"

"Roger," Griffin replied. Her _Panther_ had been hit hard as well, losing its SRM-4 and a lot of armor, but the veteran had been hard to kill and devilishly effective with the little 'Mech, using her PPC to land good hits on the _Man O'War_ and help Stohr with the _Fenris._ She jumped the _Panther_ and landed nimbly in the snow, raising the PPC.

Without warning a murderous fusillade of fire poured from the tunnel. The _Panther_ was caught in its skinny midsection and blown in half, the torso spinning crazily through the air to disappear into a snowbank. Max turned. "Oh my God," he said in horror.

From the tunnel stepped three 'Mechs. The _Mad Cat_ and the _Loki_ were bad enough, but in the lead was a mammoth, 100-ton _Daishi._

* * *

Seconds stretched into minutes. The Clan 'Mechs stood as motionless as statues, but the MechWarriors inside were fidgeting. Targeting computers were locked onto the tunnel entrance and Hannifan had long since taken his place on the south flank, but nothing came out of the tunnel. Erik Kerensky was more impatient than his warriors: he had made a good plan, and a good speech to back it up, and his warriors were keyed up and ready to destroy the Snowbirds. Now he wondered if there was a diversion. A few MechWarriors even edged forward from the line only to growled back into place by their Star Commanders; Kerensky knew that he would have to launch an attack soon or watch his line unravel. Patience was not a virtue practiced widely among Clan warriors.

Without warning, a missile hissed from the opening, a huge missile that could only be an Arrow IV round. MechWarriors in the lead line instinctively tried to dodge, nearly colliding with other 'Mechs in the line. It flew past the first line and headed straight for Kerensky. He steeled himself to take it, to provide an example of discipline. The missile detonated scant meters before him, enough to rock even the 80-ton _Man O'War_—but a quick glance at his instrument panel showed no damage.

"Incoming!" someone shouted, and two more missiles roared from the tunnel. One exploded short, the other struck a _Mad Cat_. The 'Mech tottered backwards, then stood tall as the MechWarrior regained control. Other than blackened paint, it showed no damage. "Hold fast!" Star Captain Tobi ordered. "They are smoke rounds—it is a smoke screen!"

Kerensky thought that a clever move, but it was ultimately futile; like every other MechWarrior in the 352nd, he switched from visible light to infrared, easily penetrating the screen. It would reduce weapon effectiveness, but only slightly, even as another five rounds detonated before the main line and around it. He wondered just how desperate Sheila Arla-Vlata was. He found out seconds later.

"GAS! GAS! GAS!" It came as a strangled scream from somewhere in the ranks. Abruptly, alarms shrilled in the cockpits of the 'Mechs as computers automatically detected the presence of poison gas. MechWarriors' ears popped as the overpressure system of the 'Mechs switched on and closed the air vents. The MechWarriors themselves were safe from chemical attacks—'Mechs were built to survive in hard vaccum, and gas was no obstacle whatsoever. Despite that, the effect was bedlam. Most of the Clan warriors didn't even know what the alarm meant and scrambled to find out: the use of chemical weapons among the Clans was so dishonorable, so unthinkable, that the one Clan that had tried it had been wiped out and even their name expunged from the Clans' histories. Few Clan warriors were even given the most basic training on chemical attacks, since no one ever used them. Kerensky was no different, but was faster than most of his MechWarriors in recognizing that their 'Mechs were already protecting them quite effectively. Yet panic had even begun to set in: no MechWarriors wanted to suffocate in their cockpits, and what their training had spared them, their imaginations filled in with all kinds of nightmares. "Calm down! Calm down, for heaven's sake!" Kerensky shouted.

At that moment, the Snowbirds poured from the tunnel.

* * *

Unseen and undetected by the Clans, Nisa Kinosh and three volunteers—securely masked just in case—had crept to the mouth of the tunnel. It had been a direct line from the Star League cache to the exit, and the Snowbirds had literally seen the light at the end of the tunnel long before they had gotten close, then witnessed Hannifan's hasty retreat. Sheila had already planned to use the chemical Arrow IV rounds they had found in the cache, but instead of having to use what remained of Kinosh's explosives and the handful of explosive Arrow IV rounds they had left to blow open the exit in a hurry, a quick conference had sent the infantry crawling forward. She had carried a holocamera with her, sent back images of what confronted them, then radioed the coordinates in for the missiles to be fired. Now she kept her head down and hid: infantry had no place in a battle of titans.

Sheila had expected to find something like a line of 'Mechs in front of her; if there had been a full Cluster there, the Snowbirds would retreat and find another way out. Finding herself against even numbers, Sheila had ordered a charge directly at the middle of the Clan line. Like Kerensky, she understood the concept of the crossing of the "T"; unlike Kerensky, she remembered how to defeat it. Nelson at Trafalgar had simply sailed into the middle of the French fleet and engaged at pistol shot range: now Sheila would do the same. As the Snowbirds charged, she didn't scream or yell, but plenty of the others did; Senefa Malthus let loose an ear-piercing shriek, the call of a jade falcon seeing prey.

The battle was joined not in the traditional, gradual fashion of BattleMech combat, but in not much more than a collision. Sheila had the _Shruiken_ moving at full speed, raising her PPCs and locking on a _Man O'War,_ and hoping that the hasty armor repairs would hold. The Clans were still sorting themselves out, and the fire from the Clan line was haphazard and inaccurate. Her shots were neither, catching the _Man O'War_ high in the chest and staggering it. Seconds later, she turned and leveled her shoulder, but missed—the Clan warrior had retreated back rather than be run over. A half second after Sheila hit the line, the other Snowbirds did as well. The battle became a melee every bit as insane and lethal as the one in the pit. The Wolves had been rattled by the initial attack's sheer bloody-minded enthusiasm, but they were elite warriors for a reason. They fought down the initial panic, recovered, and started fighting: if the crazy barbarians from the Inner Sphere wanted a close-range fight, the Wolves would accommodate them. Lance and Star order disintegrated into indivdual battles to kill or be killed.


	7. Madness

_AUTHOR'S NOTES: Chapter 7—the other half of the battle. It may be a bit before I update and finish this off—it's end of semester, and I have papers to grade! (Really. No more Madden for a bit.)_

_ Don't feel bad if you get confused…it's supposed to be confusing. This is just a bloody melee._

_REVIEWER'S CORNER:_

_SulliMike: Yep, it's getting pretty nasty. (Just wait until the next story arc.)_

_Flashpoint: Sorry that the weekend turned into a week. I'd like to say that I was busy doing constructive things, but…that would be a big fat lie. I got Madden over the weekend. Frickin' time sink. (Worse, it starts me thinking, "Hey, wow, a football game would be a KEWL Trial of Position!")_

_Kat & Mosin: I admit that I second-guessed having Sheila use those weapons--she gives kind of a lame excuse in this chapter--but hey, she's not a Mary Sue. She makes mistakes. We'll see if this turns out to be a fatal one._

_Panzerfaust: See my comment above, though certainly the Snowbirds would agree with you. Some of them, anyway._

_Hoya: Sheila does offer something of an explanation for it, along the lines of your comment. Again, even I'm not sure it was the right thing to do…_

_MUSIC CORNER: "Battle of Hoth" from _The Empire Strikes Back, _"Force Ten" by Rush, and "Information High" from _Macross Plus _(especially the line "No more child's play and no more toys" for Maysa)._

* * *

Star Commander Hannifan had watched in horror as the gas cloud drifted over the 352nd; his Star was far enough away to be unaffected. He had recovered from his shock in time to see the charge, recognize that he had to do something immediately, and order a charge of his own, directly at the Snowbirds' flank. He fired everything he had: a Gauss Rifle and a spread of LRM and SRM missiles. The SRMs went wide, but the Gauss struck a huge, squat 'Mech in the shoulder and chest. It spun and almost slipped, then steadied itself, turned, and came right at him. Two Gauss shells tore into his right leg and a PPC smashed into his right side; he desperately twisted to keep his _Man O'War_ upright, only to go down for good as another Gauss took the right leg off at the knee. The two _Palladiums_, Marion Rhialla and Alfred Dennison, marched forward, veterans who had fought together for nearly thirty years and knew every nuance of the other's movements. They began to rake the Star with fire, ignoring the return fire as if it was rain. Hannifan's Star hesitated and began to edge backwards.

* * *

Kahvi Falx had made the charge with the others, finding herself screaming _"Banzai! Banzai!"_ in a fit of madness she could not stop. The sight of her _Dragon_ bearing down on a _Fenris_ had actually caused the Clansman to break and run, and she had laughed hysterically at the sight, then turned and fired a flight of LRMs at a _Mad Cat_ that was similarly fleeing. She realized too late that the Clansman had not been retreating, only getting some space, and while her missiles cratered armor, it didn't do much more than get the _Mad Cat's_ attention. Now it advanced on her. She backpedaled and her fingers came down on the triggers for another round of missiles—only to hear silence. Her magazine was exhausted. She fired her autocannon, but the _Mad Cat_ shrugged it off. His return laserfire ate greedily at the _Dragon's_ limbs, and Kahvi was now sure she was going to die.

* * *

Cecilia Masterson had been out of LRMs before the battle even began; now she waded into combat with grim determination. A _Man O'War_—the Wolf assault 'Mech was ubiquitous—was closing in on Sheila's flank, and Masterson fired a large laser at it to get its attention. It succeeded, and she raised her _Zeus'_ arms, challenging the Clan MechWarrior in no uncertain terms to come and fight. The pilot accepted. No tactics were left: they simply went straight at each other, lasers blasting armor away. Neither 'Mech was designed for this sort of close-in fighting; despite their titanic size, both were not really armored for it. Alarms warbled in Masterson's cockpit and she ignored them. She wanted revenge for her lover, and she would not be denied it. The Clan MechWarrior stopped, suddenly realizing she was up against someone who had no intention of stopping. The split-second hesitation gave Masterson her opening: she drew back the arm that held her empty LRM launcher. Defiance Industries, who had designed and built the _Zeus_, had always intended that their machine would have a fall-back weapon in case things got close. The core of the launcher was a solid piece of armored steel, and Masterson shoved it into the hole her PPC had made in the _Man O'War's_ chest, smashing through engine plating and into the gyro. The Clan 'Mech folded over the strike and tried to pull back, but the _Zeus'_ arm was trapped inside. CeeCee didn't mind: she raised the PPC arm and brought it down on the Clan 'Mech's head. Both 'Mechs went down as the Rasalhagian began to simply beat her opponent to death.

* * *

Erik Kerensky had seen his front line and his beautiful plan come apart, but while he was angry at that, he knew the situation could be salvaged. The Snowbird charge had spent itself, and if he could rally his troops, he could simply overwhelm his opponent. "Trinary Command forward!" he ordered, and the Star walked into the melee to shore up Tobi's center. Kerensky looked around for Arla-Vlata's distinctive _Shruiken_, but couldn't find it.

"Erik Kerensky, if you are on this frequency, please reply." The voice sounded in his helmet. It wasn't familiar, and it didn't use his callsign.

"Who is this?"

"Senefa Malthus. I am on your left flank." He turned and saw a _Thunderbolt_ standing there. "I challenge you to a Circle of Equals."

"Traitor! Why should I indulge you?"

"Fine." A flight of missiles spiraled in at him; he brought up his left arm to take the hits.

"All right, Jade Falcon bitch," he snarled. "Today you die!"

Unseen in her cockpit, Senefa only smiled.

* * *

Some groups stayed together, either because they had no choice or because they naturally gravitated towards one another. The Drakon twins naturally kept close, fighting as one, brother and sister. Combined, they barely weighed more than the _Man O'War_ they had picked out because it wore the single stripe of an officer, but Star Commander Hak found himself hard-pressed to stave off their attacks. Most Wolf MechWarriors were switching to different variants of the _Man O'War_ rather than its primary configuration, as they had found that two light autocannons, two SRM-6 launchers, and a single, almost afterthought small laser left them at a severe disadvantage. Hak had stubbornly refused to change. Now he realized his mistake. He fired on one _Blackjack_ that hit him with laserfire, only to be slammed to one side in the cockpit as the other darted in and opened fire with an huge autocannon the _Blackjack_ wasn't supposed to carry. When he turned to engage that one, the first _Blackjack_ once more sliced into him with lasers. He backed off, but the two Davids pursued Goliath relentlessly.

Seeing a fellow Wolf in trouble, MechWarrior Cloyce ran in to blast one of the _Blackjacks_, only to be blown to the ground by Bien Canonizado's _Victor_. He in turn was attacked by a _Puma_, which in turn was hit by Felisanna and her _Wolfhound._ Her earlier exuberance in the pit was gone; she had forced the grief over her mother to one side, and now fought with an almost frightening calm. Bien was the last person left in the galaxy she cared about, and she would willingly die so that he might live. The little battle swirled inside the greater one: four Snowbirds against three Silver Wolves, neither side asking quarter nor giving it.

* * *

Maysa Bari was also quite calm in battle, but then she always was. She was not so naïve to doubt that death shadowed everyone on a battlefield, but even the desperate fighting of the pit had not really touched her. She cried when she heard of the deaths, as she always did, but once back in battle, it was time to go to work and she approached it in an almost businesslike fashion. Maysa would simply select a target and begin taking limbs off or punching through the torso, dodging the return fire in her slow _Rifleman_ without even thinking about it. Only once, on Vantaa, had she been a little worried she might lose. As she hit a _Mad Cat_, placing three ruby beams at the same spot on its left side, she clinically examined her damage and determined that one more good hit would go through the armor. The _Mad Cat_ turned and fired, and Maysa stepped to one side. But the simple shift didn't work this time: two Clan lasers chopped into her left shoulder. An alarm shrilled that the armor was breached, but Maysa flicked a glance towards her damage monitor and continued to fire. The Wolf warrior had twisted the tubular torso of the _Mad Cat_, so she merely concentrated on that side, once more stripping the armor from that location. This time the Clansman let fly with missiles: Maysa dodged those, only to find that the _Mad Cat_ had anticipated her move. The next shots took her left arm off at the shoulder.

"Oh _no!"_ Now she was in real trouble; her trusty _Rifleman_ had never taken damage like this, and Maysa knew she was up against a foe of equal skill. She pulled back, looking for her mother or Sheila or someone to help, but there was no one around that she could see, and the _Mad Cat_ pressed its advantage. Missiles pounded her torso, but then she saw the Clan 'Mech's arms swing around and point directly at her head. Maysa screamed and slammed both control sticks right, even as she fired her remaining lasers. Her screams continued as she experienced something else that was new: she fell. The seat padding and her straps saved her from injury, but the impact was bad enough. It stunned her for a moment, and when she shook off the creeping blackness of unconciousness, she realized she was still alive. _Oooh…that hurt,_ she thought woozily. _Where's the Clanner?_ The _Mad Cat _didn't finish her off, so she assumed that it had thought her dead and moved on to different prey. A quick check showed that her _Rifleman_ was battered and missing half its weapons in the now-gone left arm, but she was still operational otherwise. Carefully, she positioned her 'Mech for the textbook example of how to stand up a _Rifleman:_ roll over on one side, gather the legs beneath the 'Mech, push off with one arm, and stand. She got as far as the rolling over before she was confronted with the sight of a fallen _Crusader_. The markings revealed it as Robert Copeland's, but the head was a smashed ruin, and she felt bile rise in her throat as she saw the bloody smear that five minutes before had been the cheerful liasion officer.

And for the first time in her life, Maysa Bari froze.

* * *

Sheila had seen Maysa go down, and her heart had skipped a beat, but she saw the _Rifleman_ move, roll over, and stop. That would have to wait, she decided, as yet another _Man O'War_ came at her; she wondered if the 352nd Assault Cluster had simply bought a whole production run. This time, however, Sheila was not alone: she dodged a PPC bolt that would've taken her head off, flayed more armor off her opponent with her medium lasers, then smiled grimly as the Clansman staggered under a full impact of thirty missiles. Next to Sheila was Mimi Stykkis and her _Crusader_, and the two fought together as if a year had not passed, Mimi had never been in a hospital, and this was just another Nagelring exercise. Covering their flank was Fabian Cynmar's _Catapult,_ its Arrow IV launcher exhausted and he just fighting with his secondary battery of quad medium lasers; he had no business being in a melee, but saw his commander needed help and responded. Covering their rear was Megan O'Reilly's _Wolfhound_; she had already dispatched a _Fenris_ who had tried to circle around for a back shot. The haphazard square moved as one, all four MechWarriors feeling curiously more alive than ever, their senses tuned to an almost supernatural level. The _Man O'War_ backed off, looking for easier prey, and Sheila gave herself a whole second to survey the battlefield.

Maysa was still down; beyond the _Rifleman_ she saw the legs of a _Crusader_. Next to the _Crusader_ was the _Mad Cat_ that had attacked Maysa, its head wrecked. Just beyond that, a _Thor,_ having had enough of the battle, was limping away, pursued ponderously by Tooriu's _Awesome_; a _Fenris_ ran past and Tooriu almost casually backhanded it to the ground with one sweep of the PPC's barrel. A hundred meters to the _Thor's_ left, Chuck Badaxe's _Atlas_ and Maria Thyatis' _Wolverine_ was taking on a _Gladiator_. To Badaxe's left, a _Mad Cat_ was viciously kicking Ariel Munroe's fallen _Phoenix Hawk LAM_. Continuing on, Sheila saw the impromptu Circle of Equals that had sprung up around the Drakon twins, Felisanna, and Bien; just beyond that was the real Circle of Equals where Senefa squared off with who had to be Erik Kerensky. A _Man O'War_ burned brightly near there, and Sheila saw Kahvi's _Dragon_ go down under a fusillade from a _Mad Cat_. She motioned her ersatz lance in that direction. There was no point trying to figure out or control this battle: it was chaos, it was madness, it was war.

* * *

Max saw what his opposite number in the 352nd had done, or thought he did. He had sent in his lights and mediums to get Max to commit and deploy, and now unleashed a solid core of heavy 'Mechs and the biggest machine in the Clan arsenal. The only other explanation was that the Clan commander had lost control of his Stars. Either way, the initiative had swung back to the Wolves, and if he didn't do something fast, it would stay that way. "Burke! Mike!" he shouted. "Take on that _Mad Cat!_ Everyone else, stay on the others! I'll take that _Daishi!"_ He had no illusions that a handful of medium 'Mechs could hold off even a damaged _Man O'War_ and a thinly-armored _Loki_, not to mention the smaller but still lethal _Pumas, Fenrises,_ and the _Black Hawk._ But he had to try, and pray that he got a break.

He got one. Marijoan Shaw was a superb warrior and knew her Elementals well, but the sheer weight of metal was against her: now in the battle was Henri Fromage's 75-ton Von Luckner. It was an ancient design, but it was a main battle tank designed exactly for this sort of battle. Fromage simply ground forward, daring any Elemental to try and stay in range of the tank's main gun, a massive Autocannon/20 that could literally vaporize a battlesuit. They worked their way around, only to find themselves engaged by murderous fusillades of laserfire from the two Ontoses and missiles from the SRM carrier; trying to jump behind left them vulnerable to the Hawkslayer, firing cluster rounds that couldn't kill an Elemental, but could certainly snatch them from the air and send them hurtling out of control. With four more of her people down, Shaw ordered her Star back into the woods. She paused, aimed, and fired her laser, and was rewarded when it blew the track off the SRM carrier. She hopped on her jumpjets towards safety, when a SRM round from the Von Luckner hit her in the right knee, spun her around, and slammed her to the pavement. She felt her leg snap on the impact and gritted her teeth; though the Elemental suits were equipped with automatic painkiller injectors to keep the Elementals fighting to the point of death, she had disconnected hers, afraid of the drugs clouding her judgement. Now she wished she had them as she painfully pulled herself beneath the inert Manticore. She fired her machinegun at the Von Luckner as it rumbled by, but she might as well have thrown rocks.

Fromage proved that his unlikely name wasn't entirely made up as he hurled French curses at the Clans and engaged the _Loki._ Though a heavy 'Mech, the _Loki_ was an all-or-nothing design based around a huge array of weapons and speed, sacrificing armor. It paid for it now: Fromage's autocannon left its left arm hanging by a a few myomer strings, while its front armor was pounded by SRMs. It was further hammered by LRM barrages from the Sturmfeur and the Ontoses, and though its return fire peeled armor away in huge chunks from the Von Lucker, its MechWarrior pulled away to the north, trying to put some distance between the 'Mech and the suddenly dangerous tanks.

The _Daishi_ now turned to engage the tanks, but then turned back as Max ran towards him, obviously seeing the _Battlemaster_ as a bigger threat and a more worthy adversary. That gave Max a split-second to fire first, and he opened fire with everything he had. The PPC and medium lasers raked the _Daishi_'s bulbous torso and underslung arms, and the SRMs spiraled in to inflict more damage. Yet the assault 'Mech seemed to shrug off the damage, reared back, and opened fire itself. Max brought up his arms to defend himself, and four large laser bolts flayed nearly all the armor off, while autocannon shells chipped away at his legs. The sheer force of impact nearly knocked even the 85 tons of Max's 'Mech to the ground. _Son of a bitch,_ Max thought, feeling fear clawing at his stomach, _I barely even rattled that big bastard, and he nearly blew my arms off. One more volley like that and I'm going to be in deep shit._ Worse, Max knew, the _Daishi_ could easily destroy him, then go on to obliterate the rest of the company in succession. The only thing that could stop a _Daishi_ was pack tactics from a lot more 'Mechs than he had, or another 100-tonner like Marion Rhialla's _Palladium_ or Chuck Badaxe's _Atlas, _and even then. Even retreating wouldn't help; there was nowhere to run.

And Max knew what he had to do.

He slammed the pedals down, sending the _Battlemaster_ forward at top speed. He saw the _Daishi_'s massive weapon arms point directly at him. _For what we are about to receive _was the only thought that came to mind, and a split-second shot of Sheila's face. Then the entire world seemed to light up: only the canopy's automatic polarization saved him from being blinded. Lasers completely shredded the _Battlemaster_'s front armor and blew apart the PPC, leaving the autocannon shells to tear away a medium laser and several heat sinks. He didn't bother returning fire, focusing entirely on the aircraft-like cockpit of the _Daishi_ that slowly filled his canopy. The Clan warrior realized abruptly what Max was going to do and tried to get out of the way, but the one weakness of the huge assault 'Mech was its lack of speed.

Max crashed into the _Daishi_, turning at the last second to take most of the hit on his right arm. The ferro-aluminum bone broke, but momentum was now Max's best friend and greatest enemy: both 'Mechs slid across the road in a shower of sparks, the guardrail snapped like a rubber band, and then both went over the cliff, landing on the tree-choked slope and sliding down in a gruesome, 185-ton toboggan ride.

Max had anticipated this and had indeed planned on it. He kept the _Daishi_ under him as they careened crazily down the near-vertical slope, smashing into boulders and trees. Several smaller rocks flew up and smashed into his canopy, but as bad as the ride was, it had to be worse on his opponent. The 'Mech's arms flailed around, unable to stop the descent but also unable to come around to bear against the _Battlemaster_: the _Daishi's_ designers had simply never anticipated a desperate opponent knocking it over a cliff, then putting it into a bear hug on the way down. Max looked through his starred canopy and saw the Clansman through his. The other man was fighting the controls, trying to do something, knowing that bottom of the canyon had to be coming in seconds. He reached up and grasped the ejection seat handles, then dropped his hands, knowing that ejection now would only ensure he died that much sooner—the seat would fire into one of the trees they were crashing through or into the ground. Their eyes locked for a moment, and Max clearly saw the Wolf warrior smile at him, then sketch a salute.

Then they hit bottom.

The _Daishi_ struck a haphazard line of boulders, each the size of a small 'Mech, that lined the canyon floor. It stopped instantly, the entire top half of the 'Mech crushed. Max had anticipated a jarring impact, but what he hadn't thought of was that the _Battlemaster_ would be flipped bodily into the air. It actually turned a somersault and landed face-up on the other side of the narrow canyon. Max was sent forward in his straps and then slammed hard back into the seat. His helmet struck something solid and very hard, and everything went black.

* * *

Maysa Bari was still frozen. Her mind willed her hands and feet to move, but nothing happened. She couldn't take her eyes off Copeland's body.

"Oak Two to anybody! I need help!"

Maysa blinked and looked up, beyond the _Crusader_. She could make out Mary Scott's _Puma_, which was having some trouble fending off yet another _Fenris._ She saw it circle around the _Puma_, getting in place for a lethal rear shot. "Get up, Maysa," she told herself. "Get up!" As if she was immersed in mud, Maysa forced her right arm to move, then her legs. The _Rifleman_ slowly stood, and as she got to one knee, Maysa raised her remaining arm to fire. The two large lasers spoke and splashed red across the _Fenris'_ flank, not enough to destroy it but certainly enough to make it back off a little. She finished standing her 'Mech, shook her head to get the sweat out of her eyes, then went back to fighting.

* * *

Though nearly unseen—except in hurried glances by friends and foes—Erik Kerensky and Senefa Malthus continued their battle within the battle. It was a nearly equal fight: both were superb MechWarriors, and if Senefa's _Thunderbolt_ surrendered fifteen tons to Kerensky's _Man O'War_, it was actually better armored. It was also far more heat efficient: Senefa constantly fired her weapons every chance she got, while Kerensky, using the PPC and laser-equipped Alpha variant of his machine, had to constantly leave off firing one or two weapons or risk shutdown. Already, the shooting had slowed his machine enough that Senefa pressed another advantage: mobility. She could jump, and the _Man O'War_ could not.

Even with that, the simple fact that Kerensky's Clantech weapons could hit harder than Senefa's Inner Sphere versions had tipped the battle to his favor. Senefa had long since exhausted her LRMs and now was relying on her Gauss Rifle and medium lasers. She had landed a medium laser shot to his head, then taken one of his arms off, depriving Kerensky of half his weapons, but the other arm still had twin PPCs that were tearing her apart. Already he had penetrated the armor on her right side and blown most of the _Thunderbolt_'s left foot off, causing her to limp around the field. She could handle a pounding better than he could, but there was only so much even the most resilient of 'Mechs could take.

They circled each other at nearly pointblank range, looking for an opening to finish the fight. Earlier, he had taunted her, calling her a traitor and worse, but Senefa simply ignored him. In a battle like this, she completely ignored all other factors. Senefa was even unaware she was smiling, something she always did in battle but never noticed. Kerensky was no longer taunting.

The _Man O'War_ suddenly brought its remaining arm up. Senefa feinted left, then dodged right, the blue bolts passing harmlessly by, but her own Gauss shot missed as well, and her medium lasers only flecked some armor away. She tried to get around to his vulnerable left side, only to be taken by surprise as Kerensky suddenly lunged at her as if to charge. Senefa instinctively fell back and stumbled a little on the stub of her left foot, and the Wolf commander saw his opening. He fired both PPCs again, risking the extra heat. Both connected: one blasted the remnants of Senefa's central torso armor away, while the other lanced completely through her 'Mech. In the wake of the PPC blast, a few steel balls clattered to the ground, what remained of her Gauss rifle ammunition. That meant she had one last shot left, and then all she would have would be her medium lasers—which would be almost impossible to kill a _Man O'War_ with. Worse, if he hit her once more in the chest, it would likely destroy her 'Mech.

Senefa suddenly had a wild, mad, Sheila-like idea. She took one step backward as if retreating, ducked to avoid a single PPC bolt—Kerensky was trying to downheat—then dashed in, not even bothering to fire back. The _Man O'War_'s arm tracked in the wrong direction, snapped down, but it was too late: Senefa seized it with her left arm, knocked it out of the way, and then rammed the barrel of her Gauss Rifle into the Clan 'Mech's shoulder, firing. There was a real chance that the Gauss shell would not have enough velocity to penetrate, but it did, and did so perfectly, blowing the shoulder joint apart to leave the arm dangling by a few wires; she finished the job by simply ripping it free. She gave the _Man O'War_ a small shoulder shove and stepped back for real this time. "Kerensky, it is over. Surrender. You have no weapons left."

"I will never surrender to a traitor!" Kerensky screamed, and charged her in one, last desperate gambit to destroy them both. Senefa did not retreat, but slid to one side, then put every ounce of power she had into swinging the _Thunderbolt's_ left arm. The armored battlefist smashed through the cockpit, actually knocking the _Man O'War_ off its feet, where it slammed to the now-muddy ground.

* * *

Star Captain Tobi saw his commander go down. He made a hasty scan of the battlefield, not seeing many Wolf 'Mechs left. The Snowbirds looked considerably bad as well, but among their ranks he saw an _Atlas_ and an _Awesome;_ coming up on the left were the two huge machines that carried Gauss Rifles and PPCs and had driven Hannifan's Star off. The 352nd Assault Cluster was simply losing a battle of attrition, and with Kerensky down, he was in command and had to do something which he hated to do.

"Stampede Alpha One to all Silver Wolf elements. Pull back. Reform at grid square 54-40."

"Alpha One, Pack Bravo One." It was Star Commander Wenter Kisiel. "You are ordering us to retreat? Where is Silver Wolf One?"

"Silver Wolf One is dead. Retreat. We have to save what we have left."

Kisiel acknowledged reluctantly. One by one, the 352nd began to break contact. Tobi began to count Wolf 'Mechs and came up with a count of sixteen.

* * *

Sheila saw the Wolves begin to retreat. "Snowbirds!" she ordered. "Hold fast and cease fire! Let them go." The firing slowly died down as the Clan Omnis retired behind a ridge. "Rifle Six, bring your people up and let's start finding survivors." Kinosh's infantry came out of the tunnel and began to swarm over the battlefield. They ignored Clan wreckage at first and went for Snowbird 'Mechs. Sheila did some counting of her own: four Snowbirds were down on the field. She walked from wreck to wreck. Troms Fiordur was already out of his _Warhammer_, smoking a cigarette on the remains of his machine and looking more bored than hurt. Kahvi Falx was put on a stretcher, wounded but conscious; Ariel Munroe had somehow survived the ruin of her _Phoenix Hawk LAM_ and was also alive, though unconscious and badly hurt. Robert Copeland was dead. Kinosh's infantry also found Clan survivors, six of them.

She organized most of the remaining Snowbirds in a defensive line, but the Wolves did not appear to be planning an attack. Sheila hoped not, because she wasn't sure if the Snowbirds could hold off an attack. The only 'Mech that appeared undamaged was Tessya Blackthorn's _Wasp_, and that was only because she had kept the 20-tonner out of the fight, sniping at targets when they presented themselves. All the others, Sheila included, had taken heavy damage, and some were missing limbs or parts of legs. It looked more like Sheila commanded a mass of zombies rather than a military unit.

"Snowbird Actual, this is Rifle Six. We have found the enemy commander. He wishes to speak with you."

Sheila really didn't feel like talking to Erik Kerensky at all, but certain customs had to be observed. _So neighborly we are to the people who try to kill us._ "I'll be there in a few minutes," Sheila sighed.

"Be quicker than that, Snowbird. He's dying."

_Wonderful,_ Sheila thought. She supposed she should be ashamed of herself for wishing the Clan bastard would die before she got there so she didn't have to deal with a deathbed confession, but was too tired to care. She parked the _Shruiken_ next to the wreck of Kerensky's _Man O'War_ and Senefa's _Thunderbolt._ The ex-Clanswoman was waiting for her on the ground. "Why did you dismount, Senefa?"

"Sergeant Kinosh needed some help." Senefa thumbed back towards her 'Mech. "In any case, I am down to two medium lasers." She looked towards the _Man O'War_. "Erik Kerensky wishes to speak with you."

"I don't know what about," Sheila told her, but walked in that direction nonetheless. She shivered, only now realizing it was cold; the adrenalin from the battle had worn off.

Kerensky lay under a blanket, with two SLI infantrymen standing nearby, as was Kinosh. Kneeling next to him was a Clan MechWarrior, wearing the rank of a Star Commander. The blanket was already soaked in blood, and even without seeing more than the shape of his body beneath the blanket, Sheila could tell Kerensky was badly mangled. Looking at the wreckage of his 'Mech's head, Sheila could see why. "I'm sorry, Commander," Kinosh began, "he refused a medic—"

"I'll talk to him." Sheila bent down, squatting next to Kerensky. "Star Colonel Erik Kerensky, I'm Lieutenant Commander Sheila Arla-Vlata."

His gray eyes took her in, flicking from her face to her artificial arm. "You will forgive me if I do not shake hands," he said weakly but defiantly. "I just wanted to see the face of the freeborn bitch who destroyed my Silver Wolves through treachery."

This was surprising, Sheila wondered silently. Her relations with defeated Clan warriors so far had been cordial, considering. Far from a deathbed confession, Kerensky wanted one last opportunity to spit on her. "Terribly sorry you think it was treachery, Star Colonel," Sheila said with fake sorrow. "Besides, you were never in any danger from that gas. It was a four hundred year old nonpersistent blood agent that probably was inert anyway. I knew your 'Mechs would automatically detect it and seal off any open air vents. But I figured that you Clanners, with your honor and all, would never be trained to fight in a chemical environment."

"Dishonorable money whore!" Kerensky might have said more, but was cut off in a spasm of coughing that brought up thick, dark blood.

"I'll be sure to give your opinions on the honor of war to the people of Turtle Bay and Front Royal," Sheila snarled back. "If I can find any alive, that is."

"That was not Clan Wolf!" the Star Commander protested. "That was the Smoke Jaguars and Jade Falcons! We do not condone such acts!"

"You did when you agree to help them invade us." Sheila stood. "If you've got nothing but insults, Star Colonel, I'll be on my way."

"I just wanted to tell you that this is not over." Kerensky grinned through bloody teeth. "I dispatched a Trinary and all my Elementals to wipe out your southern force. That battle should be over by now. When Star Commander Willic Vickers is through killing everyone in that force, he'll march north and destroy you." Sheila went pale. Kerensky saw it and laughed, which died away with his life.

"Kinosh," Sheila said quickly, "can our wounded be moved?"

"Not MechWarrior Munroe," Kinosh replied. Knowing what Sheila wanted, she added, "I'll stay here and evacuate everyone to the tunnels."

"Thanks, Sergeant." Sheila stabbed a finger towards the Star Commander. "What's your name?"

"Star Commander Hak, Charlie Striker—"

"I don't care about that." Sheila pointed to the distant ridge. "Get your ass over that ridge and find the senior surviving officer. Tell him I'll grant him hegira if he agrees not to attack us and orders this Vickers fucker to break off his attack. Sergeant Kinosh here is taking the other prisoners with her. If they're attacked while we're gone, she'll gun down every one of the prisoners, then blow up the Star League cache inside Mount Brecon. We've got enough explosives in there to send this mountain into orbit, quiaff?" It was a lie, but Hak didn't know that.

"Aff," Hak nodded frantically.

"Now get the hell out of here." Sheila watched him go for a moment.

"Hegira, Commander?" Kinosh asked.

"Clan custom of honorable retreat. Get to it, Sarge. Leave that bastard where he lies." She motioned at Kerensky's corpse. She began hurrying to her 'Mech.


	8. An Announcement from the Scribe

_AUTHOR'S NOTES:_

_I know FF .net kind of frowns on this sort of thing, authors using their stories as an e-mail service, but I feel that so many people have been loyal to me over the last couple of years on the Snowbird stories, that I needed to break radio silence and take a chance._

_Here's the deal: I'm not dead, and I still have every intention of completing the Snowbird Saga. Unfortunately, it has to take a back seat to real life. This semester, for the first time ever, I am teaching full-time at a major university. It's a chance I've been waiting on for a long time, and I don't want to blow it. So I'm going to be very, very busy over the next four months. Certainly it's going to take me a few weeks to get used to the new grind (going from teaching one class over the summer to teaching _five_ in the fall, possibly more). Once things settle down, then I can probably get back to writing more._

_There's another thing, too—while I wish I was getting paid to write the Snowbird stories, I'm not. I do have the potential for getting paid writing in my own universe though, and so I've been working to get my novel published too. Not much progress in that sector yet, but I hope to at least be talking with a publishing company by the end of the year, and hopefully have something on the market next year. When (and if) that happens, you'll be some of the first to know._

_I couldn't come up with a good ending for _Race of the Snowbirds_ without being impossibly sappy, or being utterly bleak, so I'm just going to call the story complete and start up a new one when I can (tentatively titled _Snowbird's Last Stand…_uh oh). And I _will_ do this, but it might be a few weeks before I can. Hopefully by the end of September at the latest, but no guarantees. Conversely, there's no guarantee that the muse won't bite and get me fired up again tomorrow—after all, I never thought I'd ever finish _Misato's Revenge,_ but it's done after a four year hiatus—so who knows._

_Anyway, I'm sorry about the delay and the copout ending to this story arc, but I will get back to the story as soon as I can. On that, you have my word._

_Thanks,_

_Sentinel 28A_


End file.
